Cape Town - The trial of an alleged gang member who is accused of killing two people in Mitchells Plain commenced in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.
Abdur-Rahiem Israel has been charged with 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and charges related to gangsterism.
He is accused of killing two people, Jacobus Pietersen and Shahied Sallie, on two different occasions. He is also accused of aiding and abetting criminal gang activity and being a member of the Americans gang.
The State alleged that Israel was involved in a pattern of criminal gang activity between December 7, 2015 and October 14, 2018 and adopted tattoos which associate him with the gang.
Pietersen was shot and killed after he helped victims in a robbery allegedly carried out by Israel. The State said that Pietersen was an innocent man who came to the aid of these victims and died as a result of gunshot wounds to the neck.
Sallie was shot and killed for refusing to join the gang and died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. The accused was found in the possession of multiple firearms including a revolver. The ballistics report on the revolver showed the same weapon was used in Sallie’s murder.
Israel was also identified by victims who pointed him out as the perpetrator in the robberies that he was allegedly involved in.
State advocate Christiaan de Jongh called one of these victims, Stephanie Africa, to the stand where she pointed at Israel as being one of the five men who invaded her home and made threats on her life.
Africa told the court that Israel was one of five men who came to her home in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain in the early hours of December 7, 2015. She said the men broke the lock of her front door and forcefully entered her home looking for drugs.
“We were scared because they were threatening us, they said they were going to shoot us.”
Africa said they came in, searched the place and left with her TV and satellite decoder. She said one of the men kept watch over her and her husband, another stood at the door holding an object at his waist, while the others went into the bathroom and the room.
A palm print was lifted in the bathroom which the State said belonged to the accused.
Israel pleaded not guilty to the charges and was represented by advocate Nawaal Abdurahman.