Five people have appeared in court in connection with the shooting of so-called gang pastor Albern Martins.
|||Cape Town - Five people have appeared in court in connection with the shooting of so-called gang pastor Albern Martins.
Martins was gunned at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Friday when he had to appear on charges of racketeering, possession of abalone and fraud.
He was on his way to court with his wife Minnie, his son Andrew and two associates Kiyaam Rinquest and Spencer Pietersen when he was shot.
The shooting was followed by gangland threats of retribution and a spate of further shootings, as yet not officially linked to Martins’ death, followed in the wake of his murder.
Martins was linked to several gangland high flyers over the years. Police have worked around the clock since Friday to make arrests.
On Wednesday, the first suspect, a 17-year-old, appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court. Today four more men were also brought before court.
All appeared in connection with a charge of murder.
The four men who appeared this morning were identified in court as Ruben Adams, 22, of Delft, Morne Dino, 20, Mitchell Jakobus Tallies, 18, and Dulin Aden Isaacs, 22, of Westbank.
Police on Wednesday declined to confirm the arrests and a further inquiry this morning had not been answered by press time.
Attempts to speak to Martins’ close associate, Western Cape Community Outreach Project chairman Ivan Waldeck, also failed this morning.
Waldeck was reported to have announced that a R500 000 reward for information about Martins’s death had been offered by two businessmen, one from Lavender Hill and the other from Mitchell’s Plain.
Cape Argus