Staggie's Son Granted Bail
Rashied Staggie's son Abdul Boonzaaier, accused of drug dealing and other crimes, was granted bail by the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, Cape Town, on Wednesday.
Bail was set at R20,000 and on condition he stay out of Manenberg, live at an address provided in his affidavit, report to a police station daily, and hand in his passport.
"The accused is not involved in any violent crimes as per the charges and nothing has been proved or shown that he has endangered any person's life," magistrate Hafiza Mohamed said in the bail judgment.
She said she understood the State had concerns and this had been remedied by setting bail conditions. She, however, questioned the State's overall lack of evidence.
Boonzaaier, 25, faces charges of drug dealing, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, possession of counterfeit notes, money laundering, and gang-related crimes under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
He turned himself in to the Manenberg police station last month.
Mohamed said the four drug charges, from 2011, were "recycled cases" which had been reinstated after being withdrawn. The firearm and ammunition charges were from May this year.
"It is of some concern as the State has not provided an explanation for why the accused is only being charged now," she said.
Mohamed said the money laundering charge seemed superfluous as no evidence had been led to support it.
Regarding the Poca-related charge, she said the only evidence given by the State was that Boonzaaier had a Hard Livings gang tattoo on his wrist.
His father, a former Hard Livings leader, was released on day parole on Monday after serving 11 years for rape and stealing weapons from a police armoury.
In an affidavit previously handed to the court, Boonzaaier denied any gang links, saying he was an upstanding member of the Mitchells Plain community and gainfully employed.
The court heard on Wednesday that he was married with four minor children, involved in community outreach programmes, and ran a minibus taxi business. Mohamed said he earned around R40,000 a month, had a tax clearance certificate, and no criminal record, previous convictions, or pending cases.
The case was postponed until November 26 for further investigation.
Source : Sapa /je/th/jk/jje
Date : 25 Sep 2013 15:06
