Staggie’s son faces raft of charges
HE LOOKED like the average guy next door — lean, cleanshaven and neatly dressed in cargo pants as he emerged from the holding cells.
Prosecutor Charlean OlivierManuel stood up and introduced Abdullah Taliep Boonzaaier: “This man is alleged to be the leader of the Hard Livings gang in Manenberg and the state plans to oppose bail.”
What she did not say, and few people in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court knew, is that the 24-year-old Boonzaaier is the son of notorious jailed Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie.
In the Cape Flats suburb of Manenberg, 14 schools were closed last month for two days because of gangs fighting.
Several people were killed in running gun battles between the rival Americans and Hard Livings gangs as word hit the streets that Staggie is to be released from prison on day parole.
Staggie and his twin brother, Rashaad, gained notoriety in the 1990s after a documentary about their lives, Cape of Fear, was aired internationally.
Rashaad was shot and set alight in 1996 by a lynch mob led by People Against Gangsterism and Drugs in Salt River.
Rashied spent the past 10 years behind bars for ordering the rape of a police witness. He will be released on day parole on September 24 and will spend his evenings in prison until he gets full parole, which is scheduled for March 25 next year.
The police have linked an increase in gang violence on the Cape Flats to his pending release. Extra SAPS and metro officers have been assigned to Manenberg as Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Premier Helen Zille remain at logger- heads over deploying troops to keep the peace.
Boonzaaier, who lives in Mitchells Plain, was arrested on Thursday. Olivier-Manuel told the court that police on patrol spotted him driving a new Golf GTI Cabriolet in Manenberg on August 17.
He was stopped and searched outside the locked vehicle, but he ran off when asked to open the car, which was impounded.
Boonzaaier, who appears to be unemployed, bought the car with a bank loan for more than R500 000.
The car was opened at Manenberg police station on August 22 and detectives allegedly found 198 rounds of 9mm ammunition and a substantial quantity of fake R100 notes.
Boonzaaier later turned himself in to the police and was charged with the illegal possession of ammunition, a firearm — recovered separately — and counterfeit money.
Olivier-Manuel said the state planned to add further charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The court appearance lasted just a few minutes. Boonzaaier will appear again next week to seek bail.
The provincial anti-gang task team, Operation Combat, has now impounded two vehicles belonging to Boonzaaier.
The first, a white Golf, was impounded in May after being spotted near the scene of a gang shooting. Found abandoned in the street, the police allegedly discovered a 9mm firearm inside the car.
Boonzaaier, who has no previous convictions or outstanding warrants of arrest, is facing other charges related to the alleged possession of methamphetamine, known as tik.
Boonzaaier’s lawyer, Marcello Stevens, said his client found the charges confusing. “How can you charge someone with possession of something if it is not found on that person?
“It was found in a car that he was not present in. I believe that the state has no grounds to oppose bail, as he has no previous convictions or even a criminal profile,” said Stevens. “Both myself and my client were utterly shocked when the state alleged that he was the leader of the Hard Livings in Manenberg.”
Boonzaaier’s mother, Shanaaz, was in court and sat stonyfaced during her son’s brief appearance. He glanced at her as he was escorted back to the holding cells.