Cape Town - Three men charged with the murder of Hard Livings gang leader Ebrahim Ismail entered a plea and sentence agreement with the State after admitting they killed him in retaliation for the killing of opposing Vikings gang leader Shafiek Meyer.
Keagan van Rooi, 32, Jeremy van Wyk, 21, and Jevon Loggenstein, 29, all pleaded guilty to the charge of murder after the State withdrew a number of other charges as per the agreement.
A fourth accused, Ricardo de Kock, appeared alongside the three but has not yet pleaded.
They admitted that during a turf war between opposing gangs in April 2019, they were alerted to Ismail’s whereabouts and with the intention of killing him, drove to a Kenilworth petrol station in a stolen gold Toyota Avanza to carry out the hit.
The agreement reads: “They intended to shoot and kill Ismail should they find him. On April 6, 2019, Ebrahim Ismail was travelling in his aunt’s blue BMW motor vehicle. He stopped at a Caltex garage in Doncaster Road, Kenilworth, to buy anti-freeze. When the petrol attendant moved away to fetch the anti-freeze, De Kock and Van Rooi ran up to the deceased and shot him.”
The State had video evidence of Ismail being shot through the window and witnesses who saw the shooters flee the scene and jump into the gold Avanza.
They were arrested shortly after the incident.
The three men further admitted responsibility for Ismail’s death as an autopsy revealed that he died as a result of being shot 28 times.
Both Van Rooi and Van Wyk admitted to being members of the Vikings gang while Loggenstein denied it. Loggenstein further admitted that he was the driver, drove recklessly and that he tried to evade arrest but denied that he was armed.
Van Rooi was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and Loggenstein was sentenced to 25 years, while Van Wyk, only 18 years old at the time, was sentenced to 18 years. De Kock returns to court next July.
Outside court, Ismail’s mother Jainap said: “I’m happy with the sentence, it won’t bring back my child but I’m satisfied with what they got.”