Former Anti-Gang Unit boss Andre Lincoln takes the stand in Kinnear trial
Cape Town - A grand scheme by a woman to persuade the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) to help her secure bail for her gangster boyfriend took centre stage in the Western Cape High Court yesterday, as former AGU boss Andre Lincoln took to the stand.
The much-anticipated testimony by Lincoln comes amid a constitutional challenge by Elsies River mother, Amaal Jantjies, on the confiscation of her cellphones after she was arrested for the failed grenade attack on the home of slain AGU detective, Charl Kinnear.
Jantjies and her former boyfriend Janick Adonis are accused alongside alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, on an array of crimes including the grenade attack.
The couple were thrust into the limelight in 2019, when AGU officers guarding Kinnear’s home arrested a suspect with a grenade outside the property.
Jantjies was busted for conspiracy to commit murder after the suspect, known as “Mamokie”, identified her as the woman who gave him the hand grenade.
Lincoln was called to testify as part of the trial-within-a-trial, as Jantjies called for the cellphone evidence to be ruled as inadmissible.
Despite claims by an earlier witness, which was not contested by her lawyer, Jantjies allegedly claimed her rights were never explained to her and told police she herself was an attorney at the time of the arrest.
In his testimony, Lincoln explained how Adonis sought out Kinnear while attending trial at the Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court, saying he had information for him.
He said he was asked to meet with Adonis at the AGU base and did so along with other police officers.
The alleged member of the Junky Funky Kidz gang told Lincoln and others that he had information on the firearm and the suspect who gunned down Sergeant Donovan Prins in Lavender Hill in 2019.
In exchange, Adonis and Jantjies wanted the AGU to speak to the prosecutors to help secure bail for him, but Lincoln said this was not possible as the offences included murder and attempted murder and were too serious to permit Adonis’s release.
However, even though cops made an arrest, the calibre of the firearm did not match the one that killed Prins.
Lincoln said multiple meetings were held and Adonis asked that Jantjies be present as she would help oversee matters as he was in custody.
The couple continued to supply information on the locations of firearms, but Lincoln said he became frustrated as there were no arrests as the guns were always abandoned in Delft.
“It became apparent that they were working with someone in Delft,” he said.
About a week before the grenade attack, Lincoln said Jantjies called for another meeting where she started to turn on Modack and showed police that she had been in contact with him.
Jantjies was seemingly aware of Kinnear’s investigation into Modack after the arrest of his wife and instead offered to supply information about Modack to the AGU.
The trial continues.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus