Alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield granted R250k bail

• Ralph Stanfield has been granted bail by the Wynberg Magistrate's Court.
• The court granted him R250 000 bail.
• Stanfield is accused of a string of charges emanating from an alleged attempted hit on a former driver, whom he and his wife Nicole Johnson accused of stealing over R1m from them.

He is expected to take the bail refusal on appeal to the Western Cape High Court.

Magistrate Heather Paulse found that the State's case against Stanfield, who faces a string of charges, including illegal gun possession and attempted murder, was not as strong as the prosecution believed.

In fact, she said, it appeared that the wheels of justice turned very slowly for Stanfield, who has a decade-old case pending against him. 

Stanfield launched his second bid for bail on a string of charges emanating from an alleged attempted hit on a former driver, whom he and his wife Nicole Johnson accused of stealing over R1 million.

He was arrested in September at his Constantia home by members of the police's Anti-Gang Unit, who during the execution of the arrest warrant further charged Stanfield with possession of an unlicenced shotgun and ammunition.

This after he was found in possession of a set of keys that unlock one of the safes in a safe room connected to his bedroom.

Stanfield alleged the key had been dropped by PPE Security's Aidan Minnaar, who is part of the team employed to safeguard his home.

Minnaar backed up Stanfield's claim, testifying during the bail application that the safe and its contents were the company's property and that they had all the required permits.

The State, however, contended the paperwork was not compliant with the Firearms Control Act.

In her bail judgement, Paulse questioned why Stanfield had been charged for the weapons when Minnaar had, during the operation, been taken to the safe to account for its contents, not the alleged gang kingpin. She further pointed out that Minnaar had said the gun and ammunition were his responsibility, yet he was held and later released from police custody without being charged.

Among the charges are charges in a case relating to the theft of a car of a previous employee in January that year. Paulse asked why Stanfield was arrested in such a "dramatic fashion" eight months later, when he had been in the State's crosshairs for years and could have been summoned to appear before a magistrate.

Stanfield, described as a man of "significant means", offered to pay R250 000 bail for his release.

But the State accused him of being dishonest about his income, which only accounted for R40 000 he ostensibly earned per month from his wife's company, Glomix House Brokers. 

Prosecutor Frank van Heerden argued that Stanfield was likely to commit further crimes should he be released, that he might  intimidate or harm the State's witnesses and could flee the country to evade standing trial on the serious charges.

Paulse, however, found that the State had not produced evidence of this.

She agreed with the defence that Stanfield did not appear to be a flight risk, referring to his diligent attendance of proceedings for the past 10 years in the Cape Town Regional Court where he, Johnson and a large group of co-accused are accused of bribing Gauteng police officers to help them get firearm licences without going through the usual procedure of competency testing.

This case has been pending since 2018 after charges were withdrawn and later reinstated.

Paulse said a bail application was not a "dress rehearsal for trial".

But the State's handling of his cases showed that the "wheels of justice turn slowly" for Stanfield, who still had a clean criminal record.

Stanfield, who intends to plead not guilty to all the charges he faces, is being held at the Brandvlei Correctional Facility after he was held at Pollsmoor Prison for one night.

He is the only awaiting trial prisoner being held in Worcester, claiming to essentially be in solitary confinement as he spends his days in a cellblock consisting of 15 empty rooms.

Stanfield claimed his mother was his only permitted visitor and was being monitored by the warden, who happened to be the brother of the complainant in the attempted hit case.

A father of two teenagers, Stanfield said his daughter was particularly struggling to cope with the arrest of both her parents and was suffering from a condition which had resulted in her hospitalisation.

He, himself, was not in the best of health, he lamented, listing ailments such as high blood pressure, anxiety, and sleep apnoea for which he required a machine when asleep.

Paulse said Stanfield had shown exceptional circumstances and had a right to look after his children and conduct legitimate business ahead of his trial.

His bail was set at R250 000.

However, remains behind bars ahead of the planned appeal against his rejected bail application.

An upbeat and cheeky Stanfield was led back to the holding cells, telling the AGU officers that he was one step closer to freedom.

"My huis is groot (my house is big)," he told one officer.