Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Gangster photos’ in Long St murder case
Court to look at Facebook profiles
PHOTOGRAPHS and images uploaded on to Facebook may link a Ruyterwacht resident – accused of plotting to murder a doorman in Long Street about two months ago – to a gang he denies membership of.
The pictures, which police found online after the killing of Beerhouse doorman Joe Kanyona, 33, were found on the Facebook profile of Nasbie Edwards and include photographs of him making hand signals identical to those of gangsters, as well as an image of a man with the letters YGSB below him.
This week it emerged in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court that the letters are believed to stand for Young Gifted Sexy Bastards, a gang with ties to the Hard Livings and with a stronghold in Woodstock.
Edwards, 27, Ubaid van der Berg, 20, and Toufiq Essa, 21, are accused of conspiring to kill Kanyona on June 20.
During a previous court appearance Essa said a fourth man, known both as Ashley and Sebastian, had stabbed Kanyona.
Ashley’s whereabouts are unknown and police are awaiting test results on DNA samples taken from the wooden handle of the knife pulled out of Kanyona’s neck, to try to track down Ashley.
Yesterday magistrate Grant Engel was ready to announce whether or not he would allow Edwards, Van Der Berg and Essa to be released on bail, but the holding cells flooded, causing a stench in the courtroom, so the matter was postponed to Tuesday.
Captain Althea Jafta, a member of the police’s tactical response team, testified for the State during proceedings on Thursday. She said after Kanyona’s murder an informant told her that Edwards, Van Der Berg and Essa had been involved.
Jafta knew the three from previous encounters at a drug house in Albert Road, Woodstock. She had wanted to show officers investigating Kanyona’s murder what Edwards, who previously denied being affiliated to a gang, looked like.
“From Facebook I obtained various photographs pertaining to the suspect, Nasbie Edwards.”
Jafta said the photographs included Edwards making hand signals and an image of a sign saying: “Danger: Gifteds in area.” She believed the images proved he was a member of the Young Gifted Sexy Bastards gang.
“There’s no normal way to explain why you’d walk around saying ‘gifted, gifted’.”
The images were handed in as exhibits. Jafta said police were aware of speculation, which included an extortion racket linked to the bouncer industry, was behind Kanyona’s murder.
She said police had opened an inquiry to investigate this because no Long Street club owners had formally made statements to police.
Jafta said Van Der Berg had initially said he wanted to confess but backtracked shortly before doing so.
“(He) seemed very anxious and nervous,” she said, adding that he told police his mother would be harmed if he did so.
Asked who would hurt his mother, Van Der Berg had named Edwards.
Jafta said Van Der Berg and Essa had, however, told police that they had been told to “build a wall to take blood”.
Warrant Officer Denver van Sitters, who investigates gang cases, testified that “to take blood” in gang terms meant to harm someone.