How underworld boss Mark Lifman was killed… His last word was 'Nooo!'

The George Magistrates Court heard the chilling final moments of alleged underworld kingpin Mark Lifman, whose last word was a desperate "Nooo!" as he confronted his killers.

This detail emerged during the much-anticipated bail hearing for murder-accused Gert Bezuidenhout and Johannes Hendrik Jacobs, who appeared in court yesterday.

Lifman was gunned down in a hail of bullets at the Garden Route Mall in George on 3 November. The swift arrest of Bezuidenhout and Jacobs followed the shooting, which was captured on CCTV.

A statement from a car guard at the mall, read into the record, provided a harrowing account of the events. The guard described seeing a white male walking across the parking lot, noting the slightly open left passenger door of a white VW Polo. He then heard Lifman shout "NO!" just before the shots rang out.

The court heard that Lifman had travelled to George with friends on 31 October. While his companions went golfing several days later, Lifman took the blue Ford Raptor to the mall. CCTV footage inside the mall shows him shopping at Studio 88, leaving with two bags.

The investigation revealed that barely a minute after he parked, the gunmen arrived in the white VW Polo and lay in wait. The footage shows no one following him inside the mall.

Investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Dirk van Reenen, detailed Lifman's movements. The State's case rests heavily on this CCTV footage, along with evidence of wigs, forged licence plates, and a bullet hole in the left passenger window of the white VW Polo.

Advocate Michael Hellens, representing the accused, attempted to discredit this evidence, questioning the reliability of the footage and the absence of key evidence such as gunshot residue in the vehicle and the murder weapon itself. "If the police confiscated the vehicle, why haven't they presented evidence of gunshot residue inside the car or on the arms of the alleged shooter?" he questioned.

Hellens argued the lack of gunshot residue and the murder weapon weakened the State's case, asserting his clients intended to plead not guilty and were not flight risks. He urged the court to grant bail. However, the State countered with significant evidence linking the accused to the crime. Days before the murder, Bezuidenhout applied for three firearm permits through Professional Protection Alternatives (PPA).

These permits, valid from 29 October to 3 November, allowed possession of rifles. However, only two magazines and 9mm bullets were found on the accused upon arrest, with no rifles. The State believes the calibre of the bullets that struck Lifman matches the rifles Bezuidenhout applied for. The murder weapon remains unfound, but a police raid on PPA's offices yielded firearms matching the permits. These weapons, along with bullets recovered from Lifman's body, are undergoing ballistics testing.

Adding to the complexities of the case, the court revealed that Jacobs received a domestic violence protection order on Friday morning while in custody. Jacobs co-owns an R8 million farm in Hoedspruit, Limpopo, with his ex-wife, Georgina, and intended to return there if granted bail. However, his ex-wife has barred him from the property.

"He [Jacobs] allowed them to stay on the farm, and now they deny him access. She cannot entrench herself in his property and then prevent him from returning. That cannot fly," argued Hellens, indicating an appeal against the order. Georgina Jacobs spoke briefly to News24, labelling her ex-husband "dangerous" but declining further comment. "I do not want anything to do with that man," she stated.

The previous court session saw the presence of Jerome "Donkie" Booysen and his associates in the public gallery. Booysen, a close friend of Lifman and alleged gang boss, had previously claimed that Bezuidenhout, also known as "Johnny," was the right-hand man of PPA Security shareholder Alwyn Landman and acted on Landman's orders. PPA management denied any involvement in Lifman's murder, stating Bezuidenhout only performed contract work for them. This session, however, saw a shift; Booysen's entourage was absent, replaced by a group of younger lawyers observing the proceedings. Lifman's associates, Donkie and Andre Naude, along with Booysen's son, Joel, were present at the earlier hearing.

Magistrate André Aucamp ultimately denied bail, stating the accused failed to demonstrate substantial or extraordinary circumstances justifying release.

"The onus is formally on both applicants to convince the court that the State's case will fail at trial, and that did not happen in this case," Aucamp said, adding the State presented a strong prima facie case. The case has been postponed to 20 February to allow the State to analyse cellphone records and other data related to the investigation