State witness against alleged gang boss dies in hail of bullets

Morne “Naykie” Nel testified about fearing for his life and the safety of his family before he turned state witness against the leader of one of the Bay’s most notorious gangs.

And on Monday, Nel, 43, a key witness in the murder trial of alleged gang boss and convicted murderer Wendell Petersen, was shot dead near his Barcelona home.

Petersen and co-accused Jermaine Mitchell, Glynn Carelson and Robin Taylor were found guilty of a shooting spree that claimed three lives in September 2015.

Their sentencing is scheduled for July 18 in the Gqeberha high court.

Nel, a self-confessed member of the 16 Honde gang, was shot multiple times while driving down Scorpio Street at about 4.15pm on Monday.

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said he had been in a Ford bakkie with two friends when a white Chevrolet Aveo started following them.

Two men got out of the Aveo and opened fire.

Nel died at the scene. One of his companions was wounded and taken to hospital for treatment and the other escaped unharmed.

The shooters escaped in the Aveo.

Janse van Rensburg said the motive for the shooting was yet to be determined, but it was believed to have been a gang-related attack. Nel, who was initially charged alongside Petersen for the murders of Theodore Matthews, Rajen Naidoo and Jermain Essau in 2015, turned state witness and charges against him were withdrawn.

He gave damning evidence on how he and Petersen had arranged with Mitchell and Carelson to have Matthews killed on September 14 2015, later met with them and arranged for Naidoo’s murder as well.

After killing Naidoo, they fled to a house in Tobias Street, Gelvandale, and murdered Essau along the way.

Despite their conviction, Petersen and his co-accused vehemently deny involvement in the murders or any gang-related activities. Nel was not the first of Petersen’s co-accused to suffer a violent death.

Graham Kammies, a former member of the notorious Spotbouers gang, shared the dock with Petersen until he was acquitted in 2019.

However, in February 2020, he was shot dead outside a house in Candlebush Street, Bethelsdorp.

While it is unclear if Nel and Kammies’ deaths were related to their alleged involvement with Petersen, an associate professor in anthropology with the University of the Free State, Theodore Petrus, said witness killings and gang violence in places like Nelson Mandela Bay’s northern areas were getting out of hand.

“Gang violence has been an ongoing concern for more than a decade, and we have also seen several killings where the deceased were believed to be witnesses of gang violence,” he said.

“While it could be a coincidence that these people were killed in violent shootings, there is a strong probability that these killings were done due to their ongoing affiliation with gangs, or as revenge and to send a clear message to others that they should not cross the leaders of notorious gangs.”