- Four people have been found guilty of three gang-related murders.
- The murders took place in Gqeberha in September 2015.
- One of the victims was killed for a R30 000 reward offered by a rival gang.
Four gangsters have been found guilty of a triple murder in the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha.
They planned and executed the killings on 14 September 2015, the court heard.
Jermaine Mitchell, 33; Glynn Simione Carelson, 33; Wendell Jade Peterson, 33; and Robin Edgar Taylor, 24, were each convicted of one count of murder, the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The court further found Carelson, Peterson and Taylor guilty of two more murders, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said.
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"Peterson was the kingpin of the Dustlifes criminal gang while Mitchell, Carelson and Taylor were members of the gang. On 14 September 2015, Carelson and Peterson met to plan the murder of Theodore Tupac Matthews, 26, Rajen Naidoo, 52, and Jermaine Jabilo Essau, 25," Ngcakani said.
"On the same day, Mitchell provided Carelson with the... firearm. Peterson monitored the movements of Matthews. He constantly updated Carelson and Taylor about Matthews' movements. He told them he was in a taxi, and when the taxi stopped on the corner of Durban [Street] and Cottrell Road, Carelson and Taylor approached it and fired several shots at Matthews. He succumbed to his wounds," Ngcakani said.
On the same day, Mitchell, Carelson and Peterson shot Naidoo in Newton Park, Gqeberha.
"Their murder spree was rounded off at about 18:30 when they proceeded to Gelvandale, Gqeberha, where they shot Essau to death.
The motive behind Matthews' and Essau's murders was criminal gang related," Ngcakani said.
Peterson and his gang murdered Naidoo in order to claim R30 000 offered by another gang for his murder, the court heard.
"This was the first Act 70 (cellphone interception) case in respect of gang activity in the division. It took a great deal of collaboration between Crime Intelligence, SAPS and the prosecution team to thread together a web of how the gangs operate clandestinely under a code of silence," Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape advocate Indra Goberdan said.
Goberdan described the team effort from all quarters as phenomenal.
"The prosecution team endured threats to their lives but continued to prosecute. I applaud advocates Sandan and Landman on a job well executed, and for standing strong whilst they and their families' lives were threatened."
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