Underworld couple’s plot unravels in court

Janick Adonis and Amaal Jantjies Photographer: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers.

Janick Adonis and Amaal Jantjies Photographer: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers.

Published Sep 11, 2024

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Cape Town - The scheming of a Cape Flats couple associated with alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack and accused of plotting a grenade attack on the home of slain detective Charl Kinnear has started to unravel in the Western Cape High Court.

Amaal Jantjies and her boyfriend Janick Adonis were dealt a blow this week when her applications to have cellphone records admitted into evidence in the mammoth underworld trial were dismissed by Judge Robert Henney.

After days of hearings in the trial-within-a-trial, Judge Henney ruled the evidence would not be admitted, saying he would list his reasons later.

Captain Trevor Shaw of the Hawks National Task Team assigned to investigate the murder of Kinnear, subsequently took to the stand as the State introduced seven lever arch files into evidence.

Outlining the investigation, Shaw explained that police obtained messages and telephone records on the phones of Jantjies dating back to 2019.

This ws when when the couple started working with the Anti-Gang Unit to provide information regarding firearms.

In an earlier testimony, former AGU boss Andre Lincoln took to the stand to tell Judge Henney that each time they recovered a gun based on the information provided by the couple, it was found that the firearm was abandoned.

The duo also claimed to know the location of the gunman who killed Sergeant Donovan Prins, who was gunned down in Lavender Hill while on duty in June 2019, but at the time of the arrest police discovered the firearm was the wrong calibre and the suspect not linked to the murder.

It is understood the couple tried to assist the elite police unit and in turn wanted senior cops to help them obtain bail for Adonis who was on trial in the Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court.

In his testimony, Shaw revealed the couple’s scheme went a lot deeper as he revealed that when they did provide information about guns, they had in fact bought the firearms from an associate of Modack known as Andre Fabing.

Text messages between Fabing and Jantjies showed they used references such as “pens” and “sandwiches” when referring to guns.

Shaw outed the duo and explained that during the investigation, he found that each time they allegedly bought a firearm and placed it for the AGU to find, the timing coincided with when Adonis would appear in court.

As the detective started to unpack the evidence against the duo, he also revealed that Modack had provided a white BMW for Jantjies to use and in a voice note played in court, she is heard complaining that the warning lights kept flashing and the front wheels were “finished”.

The trial continues.