Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Cape Town man was sentenced to an effective 14 years in jail for buying and selling AK-47s, small arms and hand grenades in a city already reeling from the devastation caused by the proliferation of illegally obtained weaponry.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court sentenced Moegsien Haywood, 64, on 12 December for being in possession of prohibited firearms, money laundering and gang-related offences after he entered a plea deal with the State.
This followed an investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime investigation team which was tipped off in May 2019 that Haywood was in the market for some weapons and explosives, ostensibly to turn for a profit to fund his son Ziyaad’s legal fees.
At the time of the sting, he was out on bail for hiding his son in a cupboard after he skipped his court appearances on the charges of murder he was facing. This gained Ziyaad the nickname the “closet killer”.
Haywood’s shopping list included AK-47s, famous for being a workhorse in rough conditions, hand grenades, and small guns. Everything had to be untraceable, with serial numbers removed.
When Haywood’s house was searched, the police seized three semi-automatic weapons; one silencer; 425 rounds of ammunition; one signal jammer; five High Court stamps, and one official police identification certificate.
The pensioner with his salt and pepper beard was arrested with three other people who the police had clocked as being lookouts during the stakeout ahead of the sting.
Hani said Haywood was sentenced to 15 years for each of the five counts of illegally possessing a prohibited firearm and nine years’ imprisonment for money laundering. Five years on each count was suspended to five years.
The court ordered that all counts run concurrently, and Haywood is expected to serve an effective 14 years’ direct imprisonment.
The case against the three accused was postponed to 19 January 2023, and they are out on warning.
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