Cape Town – The brazen daylight shooting at Wynberg Magistrate's Court, which claimed the life of Dingalomoyo Chintso and sent ripples of fear through the legal fraternity, has taken a dramatic turn with the arrest of a woman alleged to be the girlfriend of a notorious Junky Funky gang boss. The Strandfontein resident is accused of aiding the gang in the meticulously planned hit, which exposed alarming security lapses at the court and reignited concerns about the safety of judicial officers, staff, and members of the public.
Nearly a week after the shocking incident on 8 April 2025, which left court officials reeling, police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa confirmed the arrest. "A 35-year-old woman has been charged with the murder. She is expected to appear in the Wynberg court on Monday [today]," Potelwa stated. "As the team of investigators continues with the probe, more arrests are imminent. The investigation commenced after a brazen shooting incident on Tuesday, 8 April 2025 where a man was shot and killed at the Wynberg Regional Court."
The Daily Voice has learnt that the woman is known to be the lover of the notorious man and the couple were taken in by detectives over the weekend.
Initial reports falsely suggested that Chintso was a state witness. However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) later clarified that he was, in fact, appearing on murder charges himself. According to a police report seen by the Daily Voice, Chintso had several pending murder cases against him dating back to January 2023, all within the Muizenberg Police Precinct. He had also faced murder charges in 2013, which were later withdrawn, as well as charges of theft and possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle in 2019, which were also dropped.
Various sources have indicated that Chintso was allegedly hired by the Junky Funky Kids gang to assassinate Ashley "Essie" Phillips, a rival gang boss who was shot outside Brackenfell Police Station earlier this year. At the time of Phillips' death, the gang allegedly tried to flous cops by claiming that he was killed by well-known rivals in the Flakkas gang.
The brazen nature of the attack, carried out within the confines of a courthouse, has sparked widespread outrage and prompted urgent calls for improved security measures. Fear now permeates the corridors of the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, with prosecutors, lawyers, and magistrates expressing concerns about their own safety.
Speaking anonymously, a prosecutor described the incident as "a harrowing experience – one that we have long feared and repeatedly warned would happen." The prosecutor outlined a series of ongoing security failures, including non-functional metal detectors, inadequate searches of people entering the court, and a shortage of security personnel, many of whom are women without proper back-up.
“Tuesday was a harrowing experience – one that we have long feared and repeatedly warned would happen,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said people entering the court were not being properly searched, metal detectors were not working, and only eight security personnel are available for the entire building – many of them women, left without proper back-up.
The prosecutor also noted that repeated requests for security gates in sensitive office areas have gone unanswered.
“We’ve had numerous gang fights in the building. Gang members have stormed the offices of clerks and prosecutors, and there have been chases through the court’s cash hall – with knives. It’s been chaos.”
The prosecutor also pointed to a Department of Justice safety survey conducted last year, saying: “We’ve never seen that report. We don’t know what it found, or if any action was ever taken.”
The prosecutor also highlighted the lack of security on the fourth floor, where high-risk criminal cases are heard. "Often there's no security presence at all. At best, there's a single female officer with a radio. That's not enough," the prosecutor lamented.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has acknowledged the security breach and confirmed that the metal detector at the court was not functioning and had not been reported. Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi expressed her concern, stating that "such things should not happen in a courtroom or building."
Kubayi said “such things should not happen in a courtroom or building”, having received information that the metal detector at the court did not work.
Kubayi has pledged to address the security concerns at Wynberg and other courts with high levels of gang-related activity, including exploring the possibility of off-site testimony for witnesses. "At Wynberg, there is a problem despite the high security. It’s not regular that you find a court being notorious like that in terms of having witnesses being killed," Kubayi said. "We will have a conversation with the judiciary to introduce off-site testimony for the witnesses so that they do not come to the court."
“When they come to court, you don’t fear only that the witness will be killed, you fear for the magistrate. You fear for anyone who is in the courtroom when the trigger is pulled because the bullet can go to anyone.
“I am paying particular attention to that court and areas where we have high levels of gang-related matters,” said Kubayi.
Alison Tilley from Judges Matter, a legal NGO, echoed these concerns, highlighting the safety and security of judicial officers. She referenced a study by the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) of UCT, which found that almost a quarter (23%) of magistrates had been personally threatened or harmed because of their work, often in relation to gang-related cases.
“We are very concerned about the safety of everybody in the court building, including judicial officers, staff, and members of the public," Tilley stated. "We know this has been a concern from magistrates arising from previous research into conditions at courts."
“In this instance, it was as a result of the metal detectors not working, resulting in a gun being smuggled into the building.
“It’s part and parcel of the difficulties we have in court buildings generally. There is a lot of concern regarding the state of the infrastructure and whether court buildings are being maintained. There are a lot of issues that need to be dealt with in addition to security,” said Tilley.
The Provincial Community Police Board spokesperson, Rafique Foflonker, condemned the violence and called for an urgent review of security protocols at all court facilities in the province. "Courts must remain sanctuaries of justice, not battlegrounds for lawlessness," Foflonker asserted. "We are calling for an urgent, high-level review of security protocols at all court facilities in the province."
“We further call for a review of the strategy between SAPS, the Department of Justice, and court security services to reinforce physical and procedural safety measures immediately… Metal detectors, access control systems, and personnel must be audited and tested regularly,” said Foflonker.
Crime expert Calvin Rafadi warned that "past threat analyses have confirmed what is becoming increasingly obvious: our courts are under threat from brazen criminal elements who have no regard for the law."
As the investigation into the Wynberg court shooting continues, the focus remains on apprehending all those involved and addressing the systemic security failures that allowed such a brazen act of violence to occur. The arrest of the alleged gang boss's girlfriend is a significant breakthrough, but it is clear that much more needs to be done to ensure the safety and security of South Africa's courts and those who work within them.
