Police are probing the murder of alleged underworld kingpin Mark Lifman, who died in a hail of bullets at a shopping mall in George on Sunday.
The shooting at around 11.30am had tongues klapping about who could be behind the murder of the man who was at the centre of many underworld spats.
According to a Daily Voice source, the hitmen were armed with assault rifles and opened fire in broad daylight at the Garden Route Mall as Lifman walked through the parking lot to his double-cab bakkie.
The source says: “They were driving a white VW Golf with cloned number plates. He was walking and they went towards him and shot about five skote and he died on the scene.
“They raced off and cops became aware of the number plate and started tracking the vehicle. This is when they caught the two white males in Uniondale.
“It is unclear at this stage if there were more people involved, but at the time of his death Lifman had no bodyguards around him.”
One of Lifman’s closest friends, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, said the shooting had left him baffled.
An emotional Booysen tells the Daily Voice: “I really can’t talk.
“I know he goes to play golf in George but he would never go alone. I am confused about why he had no bodyguards.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the murder and says: “Western Cape SAPS responded to a shooting incident this morning at around 11.30am outside the Garden Route Mall in George where a 57-year-old man was killed by unknown assailants who fled the scene.”
Police have yet to confirm if any arrests were made.
Lifman, a controversial millionaire businessman from Fresnaye, was due to return to the Western Cape High Court today where along with Booysen, they face an array of charges including murder.
In December 2020, the duo were busted alongside slain 27s gang boss, William “Red” Stevens, for the murder of “Steroid King” Brian Wainstein in 2017.
Stevens was shot and killed near his home in Kraaifontein two months later, before the trial could commence.
According to the State’s case Booysen, his brother Colin, Lifman and Andre Naude had formed a “brotherhood”, focusing on nightclub security in Cape Town.
It states that in May 2016, a fight broke out between Colin and another person at Coco Bar and Colin complained that his own brother had brought in 27s gang members who were causing issues.
The split was apparently negotiated by Naude with Colin leaving the brotherhood and allegedly joining Nafiz Modack.
The documents state that Colin and Modack started taking over clubs from Lifman and Jerome, leading to a bitter rivalry.
In that same year Lifman was in conflict with Wainstein over property and investments.
In July 2017, there was a failed attempt to murder alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield, who was an alleged associate of Wainstein.
The State alleges that Wainstein believed Lifman was behind the botched hit and had planned to murder one of his bodyguards in retaliation.
Meanwhile last week, Lifman obtained a draft court order from the High Court to attach a Green Point property of former Beerhouse owner Randolf Jorberg in an ongoing R1 million defamation claim.
Lifman was suing Jorberg for linking him to various crimes, such as the murder of Jorberg’s doorman in 2015 on social media.
Mahira Duval
www.dailyvoice.co.za
