Nearly a year and a half after alleged underworld kingpin Mark Lifman was gunned down in a shopping centre parking lot in George, the case against the two men accused of killing him is finally moving closer to trial.
Johannes “Jakes” Jacobs and Gert “Johnny” Bezuidenhout appeared in the Thembalethu Regional Court on Friday, where the matter was postponed to March 27.
The case is expected to continue in the Mossel Bay Regional Court, and a trial date may be discussed then.
Both accused remain behind bars after their attempts to secure bail failed.
They were initially denied bail in the George Magistrate’s Court.
The two men then tried again last year to secure bail, launching a new application in which they said they had been behind bars for more than a year and wanted to be released.
However, the application was dismissed last month, meaning they must remain in custody until the case is completed.
Lifman, 57, was shot dead in the parking lot of the Garden Route Mall in November 2024.
Gunmen opened fire on him while he was seated in a vehicle before fleeing the scene.
The suspects were arrested hours later near Uniondale following a police manhunt.
Lifman was a controversial figure in Cape Town and had long been linked to organised crime investigations, particularly in the nightclub security industry.
At the time of his death, he was due to appear in the Western Cape High Court the following day as a co-accused in the 2017 murder case of steroid dealer Brian Wainstein, known as the “Steroid King”.
Jacobs and Bezuidenhout face a charge of premeditated murder in connection with the shooting.
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