Fatal stabbing of a bouncer takes center stage in Modack case

The stabbing incident that left a bouncer dead at Cubana nightclub in Green Point came to the fore in the Charl Kinnear murder case heard in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, with the owner sharing gory details of the bloody scene.

Nearly seven years after the incident that led to the death of bouncer Pitshou Falanga Ngwalo, his former boss took the stand at the massive underworld trial against alleged ringleader Nafiz Modack.

Modack, along with Jacques Cronje and Petrus Visser, were charged with public violence, assault, attempted murder and murder in connection with the brawl on December 3, 2017.

Club owner Stanley Giger told Judge Robert Henney that he arrived at the popular nightclub around 10pm on the day of the incident and was informed that a fight had broken out between his bodyguards and Modack’s friends.

Giger said he tried to call Modack to find out what the problem was but could not reach him.

About three hours later, “20 to 30 men” arrived at his club in vehicles. He saw Modack and went to talk to him.

While Giger, with his back to the nightclub, was questioning Modack, he suddenly heard him say; ‘My god’. When he returned he noticed a fight had broken out.

He recalled: “There was a fight and I couldn’t see who was fighting.”

Giger said staff informed him that head bouncer Soho Fogang was injured and was in his office.

He stated that the bouncer was stabbed in the back, a cut that he thought was small but deep due to the amount of blood.

He said another employee ran to him and told him they had to get the bouncer to the hospital or he would die, but Giger said he became confused as Fogang talked to him while he waited for paramedics to arrive.

Meanwhile, he was informed that Ngwalo was also injured and ran into a storage room in the kitchen.

Giger added: “When I saw the blood flow, I knew it was serious and asked someone to take my car so we could take him to the hospital.”

He said paramedics arrived and left the warehouse, but Ngwalo was pronounced dead a few minutes later.

CCTV footage shown in court showed Cronje attacking Fogang by striking him in the face. The cameras also place Modack at the scene but do not show him, Cronje or Visser stabbing the two victims.

Giger was not asked to comment on what led to the fights.

The trial continues.