Junior Mafia gang members sentenced for assassination of abalone poacher

TWO Junior Mafia gang members have been convicted and sentenced for the premeditated murder of an abalone poacher who refused to pay them extortion money.

- STAFF REPORTER

The Hermanus Regional Court convicted Junior Mafia gang members, Paul Adams, and Ismail Khan following the assassination of abalone poacher, Cameron Marc Padayachee, on December 21, 2021, with his children present in the car.

NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said in a plea and sentencing agreement with the State, Adams, 33, confessed that he was a member of the Junior Mafia gang and that he instructed two other members, Khan and Renaldo van der Bergh, to kill Padayachee for his refusal to pay extortion money.

Padayachee was involved in abalone poaching and was expected to pay extortion money to the Junior Mafia gang, like all other poachers.

On December 21, 2021, Khan and Van der Bergh collected a firearm from Adams, which was left in his care by another gang member.

“That afternoon, the two killers approached Padayachee on Kapokblom Street, Blompark, while he was working on a vehicle, and Van der Bergh fired eight shots at him.

“He died on the scene.