A confessed hitman’s testimony has cast a new light on the Nafiz Modack trial, revealing the intricate details behind the murder of Nicolaas Heerschap.
Hitman admits to accepting R5,000 to murder Nicolaas Heerschap
On Tuesday, the Western Cape High Court was enveloped in a sombre atmosphere as ‘Mr A’, identified in confession records as Abongile Nqodi, shared the harrowing details of Nicolaas Heerschap’s murder.
On a fateful morning on Tuesday, 9 July 2019, Heerschap, a 74-year-old father of a Cape Town Hawks detective, Warrant Officer Nico Heerschap, met his demise in Melkbosstrand, a victim of a meticulously planned assassination.
According to Nqodi, the operation was priced at a mere R25 000—a fee for a life of which a fifth was his cut.
Nqodi’s confession peeled back the layers of his involvement with the Terrible West Siders gang and his acquaintance with its alleged members.
The hit, according to him, was orchestrated with precision, from the procurement of a Mercedes Benz vehicle to the selection of attire designed not to arouse suspicion in the predominantly white neighbourhood of the target.
Nqodi painted a vivid picture of the execution, from the moment he laid eyes on Heerschap’s vehicle to the fatal shots that followed.
What transpired after the trigger was pulled was a mix of haste and a haunting realisation.
“I saw the wheels of the car were still spinning and then I knew, he is dead. It’s over for him,” Nqodi said.
The hitman described a moment of dissonance upon recognising the elderly figure of his victim, conflicting with the usual profile targeted by gang violence.
Crucially, however, Nqodi admitted that the order to kill Heerschap was not directly made by Modack. Instead, the day after the murder, Modack’s co-accused Ziyaad Poole returned with R25 000, which was divided equally among the five gang members who took part in the assassination.
Nqodi was still on the stand being led through his testimony by the State when this article was published.
Nafiz Modack trial: What we know so far
The backdrop to this grim narrative is the arrest of Nafiz Modack in April 2021, a significant development in law enforcement’s endeavour to dismantle the web of criminality entangling Cape Town’s nightlife.
Modack, facing 123 charges, including the high-profile murder of police detective Charl Kinnear, is portrayed as a linchpin in the violent tug-of-war over the city’s nightclub security operations.
The trial of Modack is not just a legal proceeding; it is a window into the complex dynamics of power, loyalty, and betrayal within the shadows of Cape Town’s underworld.
As testimonies unfold and evidence is laid bare, the figure of Modack looms large over a narrative fraught with intrigue and the quest for justice.
The testimony of Nqodi, albeit chilling, is a critical piece of the puzzle in understanding the extent of Modack’s alleged criminal empire and its ramifications for the broader landscape of organised crime in the region.
As the trial progresses, the anticipation grows, not just for a verdict, but for a deeper comprehension of the dark forces at play in the streets of Cape Town.