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| Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson outside the Cape Town Regional Court on 16 September 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais/Daily Maverick) |
The City of Cape Town has blacklisted seven companies linked to crime-accused Nicole Johnson, whose husband is alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield. Johnson's company Glomix House Brokers has been involved in housing projects in Cape Town, worth millions of rands, for more than a decade. Johnson is the director of Glomix, which was awarded housing tenders after 2014 when she and Stanfield were first arrested and faced criminal charges.
The couple were arrested again in September this year in another case related to car theft and fraud, for which they remain in custody. The Infrastructure Built Anti-Corruption Forum, which includes the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), welcomed police progress against construction mafia crimes. The SIU said that several Cape Town construction contractors had to abandon government housing construction sites following alleged acts of intimidation and violence.
In the expanding saga, which affects the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government, and which involves a police raid, a resignation, and suspicions of construction mafia violence, the city has blacklisted seven companies linked to Johnson. City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo confirmed this to Daily Maverick on Thursday.
In an article published on Wednesday, IOL reported that the matter involved an investigation relating to the murder of City of Cape Town official Wendy Kloppers, who was gunned down in Delft, at the Symphony Way Housing Project building site, on 16 February. Mbandazayo told IOL Kloppers was killed after the city refused to give in to the demands of gangsters demanding work from contractors at the housing project.
In March, the same month that Booi’s office was raided during a fraud and corruption investigation, Stanfield’s name surfaced in that investigation, which dealt with whether Booi had accepted cash from underworld figures in exchange for information about housing tenders.
In March, the same month that Booi’s office was raided, Ernest McLaughlin was murdered in the Cape Town suburb of Belhar. This loops back to Stanfield and Johnson. In 2014, they were arrested in a case involving allegations that police at the SAPS’ Central Firearm Registry had created fraudulent firearm licenses for them and others.
While still facing charges in that case, Stanfield and Johnson were again arrested in September this year. In the new case, for which they are expected back in court in February, they face charges including car theft, fraud, and in Stanfield’s case, attempted murder.
McLaughlin again fits into this. During court proceedings in that case in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court earlier this year, a police investigator alleged in an affidavit that McLaughlin had worked for Stanfield. Last month, Daily Maverick reported that McLaughlin appeared to have been involved with companies linked to Johnson. One of those companies was Glomix and another, Yibaninati, secured a contract in 2017 with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans.
Stanfield and Johnson were also involved in a spat involving the Ayepyep Lifestyle Lounge in Cape Town. The venue was closed in August after accusations by the then co-owner, Kagiso Setsetse, that Stanfield and Johnson, its general manager, were trying to forcefully take control of the business.
In conclusion, the City of Cape Town has blacklisted seven companies linked to crime-accused Nicole Johnson, whose husband is alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield. The ongoing investigation into these cases highlights the ongoing tensions between the city and the 28s gang.
