Des Erasmus
Two members of the Ferodo gang have been sentenced to life imprisonment after the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town convicted them of murdering a pregnant woman and trying to kill six others during a gang turf war in Scottsdene, Kraaifontein.
Jeremia Fortuin and Ricardo Cloete were each given effective life sentences after the court ordered additional prison terms of 107 years and 96 years, respectively, to run concurrently with life imprisonment.
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the court found that the pair fatally shot Shahida Nathan, a 21-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant, and attempted to murder six other people on 21 June 2020, after mistakenly identifying them as members of the rival Mobster gang.
The sentencing comes as the defence force has been deployed alongside police to combat gangsterism and violent crime in the province. The deployment was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his February State of the Nation Address.
Military support for police also took place in gang-ravaged Cape Flats communities in 2019.
According to SAPS crime statistics for October to December 2025, the Western Cape remained the country’s gang-violence epicentre, accounting for 257 of the 276 gang-related murders and 291 of 320 gang-related attempted murders in that quarter.
Kraaifontein ranked among the country’s top stations for attempted murder, with 81 cases, and robbery with aggravating circumstances, with 222 cases.
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The NPA said the Ferodo and Mobster gangs were at the time involved in a turf war over the illegal drug trade in Scottsdene.
It said nine active gang groups operate in the Kraaifontein area, with the Ferodo gang based in an area known as the Zoo, including Klipbok Street – a known Ferodo stronghold.
During court proceedings, according to the NPA, state advocate Steven Rubin proved that Fortuin and Cloete saw the late Alfredo Titus and the late Ridwaan Smith, both members of the Mobster gang, entering the yard of 30 Klipbok Street in Scottsdene on the morning of the shooting and chased after them.
Titus and Smith ran into the main house, but the accused believed they had entered a backyard shack where Nathan and six others were sitting, “enjoying potjiekos and tik lollies,” the NPA said.
According to the NPA, Cloete pointed out the shack to Fortuin, who was armed with an illegal firearm, and Fortuin then opened fire, believing the two rival gang members were inside.
The two men fled the scene, leaving Nathan fatally wounded and two men, aged 29 and 37, injured.
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Both accused pleaded not guilty when the trial started. Fortuin said he had attended a party in Klapmuts on the evening of 20 June 2020, returned highly intoxicated and slept until mid-morning, denying that he had been at 30 Klipbok Street.
Cloete said he had smoked drugs with a friend the previous night and only woke up in mid-morning the following day.
At the close of the State’s case, Rubin successfully applied for the admission of hearsay evidence in the form of statements made by Titus and Smith, both now deceased.
The court found the state had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the accused’s denial that they were at the scene and were members of the Ferodo gang was “demonstrably false”.
Fortuin was convicted on 10 charges, including being a member of a gang in contravention of Section 9(2) of Act 121 of 1998, murder, six counts of attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.
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He was sentenced to six years’ direct imprisonment for being a gang member, life imprisonment for murder, 15 years’ direct imprisonment for each of the six attempted murder counts, eight years for illegal possession of a firearm and three years for illegal possession of ammunition.
His total sentence was life imprisonment plus 107 years, all ordered to run concurrently with the life sentence for what the court found was a premeditated murder.
Cloete was convicted on the same charges, except for illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
He received the same sentences on the remaining counts, for a total of life imprisonment plus 96 years, also ordered to run concurrently with the life sentence for premeditated murder.
Advocate Nicolette Bell, Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, praised the investigation and prosecution teams, saying they had succeeded in “moving out of the community two very dangerous criminals who have no respect for human life”.
Bell also praised the witnesses, including a relative of one of the accused who testified despite the risks involved.
“We need men and women like these who are prepared to hold hands with us to rid our communities of dangerous criminals and reclaim our communities,” Bell said.
“Communities cannot continue to be held at ransom by marauding gangs.”