CAPE TOWN – South African authorities have accused alleged 28s gang figure Ralph Stanfield of leading a brutal organised crime group known as The Firm, said to be behind a spate of killings and coordinated gang violence across Cape Town, according to reports by The Daily Maverick.
This emerged during court proceedings on 14 July 2025 at the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court, where Stanfield, his wife Nicole Johnson and 13 other individuals face more than 40 charges, including five counts of murder, conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms, robbery and gang activity.
According to the State, Stanfield’s outfit has been at war with rival groups affiliated with the 27s prison gang, such as the Hard Livings, Dixie Boys, Sexy Boys and Ghetto Kids. Prosecutors say the feud has turned parts of the Western Cape into deadly battlegrounds over the past four years.
The indictment alleges The Firm orchestrated the assassinations of notorious gang boss Rashied Staggie, 28s member William “Red” Stevens, and former City of Cape Town housing official Wendy Kloppers. Two other men — Ismail Abrahams and Faizel Adams — were gunned down in Parow in September 2021, crimes which the State also attributes to the gang.
While Stanfield and his wife appeared via video link, seven of the accused were present in court. The State claims the accused operated across various parts of the Western Cape including Kraaifontein, Parow, Bellville, Belhar, Eerste River, Milnerton and Somerset West between 2019 and 2023.
Court documents describe The Firm as having a rank-and-command structure mirroring prison gangs, with Stanfield at the top. Some of the accused are believed to have carried out hits with military-style precision.
The killing of Hard Livings boss Staggie on 13 December 2019 was detailed in the indictment. He was shot dead while seated in a vehicle outside his Salt River home. The State alleges that three of the accused — Jonathan Cloete, Shakeel Pelston and Sharazaadt Essop — planned and executed the hit. Staggie, a convicted rapist and kidnapper, had served a 10-year prison sentence before being released on parole in 2013.
Another high-profile victim, Stevens, was murdered on 2 February 2021. He had previously been linked to the killing of alleged steroid smuggler Brian Wainstein, reportedly close to Stanfield. The State alleges Cloete and Michael Morris, both accused in this case, plotted Stevens’ murder in Kraaifontein, where he was gunned down in broad daylight.
Kloppers, a City of Cape Town official, was killed in February 2023 at a housing development in Delft. The attack, allegedly racially motivated, came amidst fierce underworld competition for a R400-million housing contract. The State says Dennis, Morris and Essop — with the now-deceased Simon Stanfield and Ernest MacLaughlin — had plotted to kill a white person at the site. Kloppers arrived unaware she was the target and was shot multiple times. A security guard was wounded in the ambush.
The first pre-trial conference for the case is scheduled for 7 November 2025 at the Western Cape High Court.
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