Radovan Krejcir — PICTURE: MOELETSI MABE
In police crime intelligence circles‚ Kagiso Ledwaba is spoken of as the alleged go-to guy for mobsters wanting to have their opponents removed. The convicted killer — who staged a movie-style escape into a waiting car during a court appearance in Johannesburg this week — is alleged to have “special skills” — making people disappear without leaving a trail‚ without using firearms.
Convicted last year for the international headline grabbing assassination of German supercar dealer Uwe Gemballa — whose body was found in a shallow grave‚ wrapped in black plastic bags outside Pretoria — Ledwaba (28) was due to be sentenced tomorrow (Thursday) for the killing. His escape came when he was in court for another criminal case.
Gemballa's kidnapping and subsequent murder occurred in 2010 as he arrived at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport for a scheduled business meeting with convicted Czech underworld boss Radovan Krejcir‚ and the late Teazers owner‚ Lolly Jackson. Although never proven‚ Krejcir was alleged to have ordered in Gemballa's murder after the business deal‚ involving the alleged smuggling of money hidden inside car parts‚ went wrong.
Ledwaba‚ however‚ will not be at his sentencing after "strolling" out of Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Monday where he was appearing in court on unrelated murder‚ attempted murder and armed robbery charges. The charges stem from a cash-in-transit heist‚ during which he allegedly shot several police officers.
While The Times has been told that Ledwaba allegedly began his criminal career on burglaries before moving onto violent house robberies and then "requested" hits for "special people"‚ police officials were unavailable for comment.
According to police crime intelligence sources‚ Ledwaba faces 24 other criminal charges ranging from murder‚ kidnapping‚ armed robbery and attempted murder.
"He has specialities. He is known to make people disappear without leaving a trail‚ without using firearms. The Gemballa case is one such example. Look what they did. He and his co-accused tied him up‚ duct-taped his mouth shut and then sat on his chest suffocating him as they squashed the air out of his lungs.
"There were no guns involved‚ no blunt objects. All very neatly done."
Another police officer described his "special skills" as some of the “most desired” in the underworld.
"He has quite the reputation‚ not only for his liking of violence‚ but also for his ability to simply make people vanish. That’s the difficulty in nailing him‚ there are seldom any bodies to pin against him." — TMG Digital/The Times
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