Being in jail is making alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife sick, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court has heard.
This was revealed on Monday as Stanfield was slapped with additional charges right before his much-anticipated bail hearing got under way.
Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson appeared alongside Johannes “Bal” Abrahams and Denver Booysen after they were busted by the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit more than a week ago in their Constantia home, and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, fraud and robbery.
Before the bail hearing could begin, the State revealed that another accused, Jose Brand, had been added to the charge sheet and will face a charge of attempted murder along with Stanfield.
The entire group was also charged under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca), while Brand abandoned his bail application.
Addressing the court, Stanfield’s lawyer said his client grew up as a poor boy in Mitchells Plain and was an entrepreneur working in the construction industry, earning R40,000 a month.
It was revealed that as a result of the attempted hit on his life in Johannesburg in July 2017, when he was shot multiple times, Stanfield struggles with breathing problems and does not have access to his specialised medical equipment in Pollsmoor Prison.
Nicole’s lawyer told the court that since being locked up, she has been refused treatment by nurses at Pollsmoor.
During their first court appearance, it was revealed that Nicole had had surgery the day before her arrest and was struggling to recover.
The lawyer also noted that the social worker’s report on the condition of their two minor children, aged 17 and 15, supported Nicole’s release on bail.
Defence advocate Ross McKernan told the court that as the owner of two Sorbet salons, Nicole earned R97,000 a month and said the businesses were suffering as staff could not be paid.
State prosecutor Frank van Heerden has applied for the case to be postponed so that the investigating officer could probe the allegations in the couple’s affidavits.
But the defence team opposed this, saying they have been attending court in a different matter for several years and the accused had proven not to be a flight risk.
The case was postponed to Wednesday.
Daily Voice