As the assassination of Mark Lifman continues to make headlines, one of his former employees has come forward stating he was a cruel man.
Lifman, 57, was gunned down on Sunday, November 3, in the Garden Route Mall parking lot.
Two men, Johannes Jacobs and Gert Bezuidenhout were arrested hours after the shooting incident in Uniondale and made a brief appearance in the George Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Speaking to IOL, the former employee, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said he was homeless when he was employed by Lifman and was living on the mountain in Sea Point at the time.
Before his employment, he earned a living by trading second-hand goods at the Grand Parade in the Cape Town CBD.
Every day he passed 79 Ocean View Drive, which at that time, was a dilapidated three-storey house.
“I heard someone call my name and it was an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in a while. We lived close to one another at one stage on the mountain. He was calling me from the house that stood on that erf,” he said.
“He motioned for me to come and out of curiosity I did, hoping he might not just be trespassing but actually legitimately staying at the house because it might mean I could convince him to store my trolley [with the goods I sell] there overnight as it was a huge mission every day getting to the mountain.”
As he approached his acquaintance, he saw the man had a set of keys and started telling him about the “rich white man” who owned the property and hired him to look after the place.
The rich man’s bodyguards had told the acquaintance to find someone to assist him to look after the premises.
“He told me it was a very wealthy man called Mark and that he was very powerful and he assumed the guy was involved in illegal activities because he always had bodyguards with him and strange people were constantly trying to get into the place,” he told IOL.
“These were apparently guys that were at odds with Mark and they were fighting for control of Sea Point. When he mentioned this, it dawned on me that he might very well be talking about Mark Lifman. He immediately recognised the surname and confirmed it was Lifman.”
The former employee said he warned his acquaintance about Lifman and his reputation and told him he wasn’t interested in the job. However, the man persisted and stated that Lifman never came to the building and instructions were relayed by the bodyguards.
The payment they would receive would also be given every Friday via the neighbour.
“I promised I would spend the night and get a feeling about the place and the work,” he said.
“I soon realised it was a busy place with guys coming and going at all hours of the day and night. Most of the guys that were permitted to come on the property to exchange packages and money and meet each other on different levels and different rooms of the empty shell of a building,” he told IOL.
“I figured it couldn't be all that bad and it became obvious one would rarely come eye-to-eye with Lifman. We agreed he would do the day shift and I the night as I insisted on carrying on with my stall on the Parade.”
He said Lifman called once to speak to him and explain what was expected and any questions and reports could be communicated to the bodyguards.
“I had known of Mark Lifman from before I became homeless. I had heard all sorts of stories especially in the gay community because people thought him despicable because of his well-known preference for very young boys”
He said things went smoothly for a while and he soon realised neighbours knew something was off as they kept calling police.
“Things started making sense to me as to why the police never acted on the complaints when on his way out one night, my co-worker got arrested two blocks away from the house by one of the new officers at the station. He called from the station and asked me to call Lifman as this police officer had arrested him for possession of three packets of tik and the captain wasn't in or any of the senior officers,” he said.
“I called Lifman’s bodyguard and almost had a heart attack when he took over the phone and started speaking to me. We were still on the phone when my co-worker walked in, who was immediately released after a call to the off duty captain by one of the bodyguards. The discussion with Lifman was unbelievably normal, with him asking me seemingly pertinent questions for someone implying he wanted to help me out of my situation. What made me feel uncomfortable was how much he already knew about me,” he said.
He explained Lifman further asked if he’d ever been to gay clubs in Greenpoint and asked if he’d like to party at a friend’s house in Gardens the following week, while he had to get himself there, the party would be expecting him.
He also alleged Lifman told him this party was a chance for him to network and this could give him a way out. He was also told not to worry about clothes or money, he would receive a parcel before the party.
“He sent me designer underwear, designer shoes and aftershave. He put a note in for a hairdresser at Cape Quarter, who strangely enough turned out to be the hairdresser that had cut and styled my hair throughout my varsity years and into my thirties in Pretoria.
“He had sent me cocaine and crack cocaine along with the clothes as well as quite an array of leather extras used in bondage. There was a small bottle, marked ‘to relax you and take the edge off tonight’, with instructions on how to drink what I assumed was some imported and expensive tot,” he told IOL.
The former employee stated he took the ‘drink’ as instructed.
“It was bitter and disgusting but I could feel myself relaxing and feeling mellow. I arrived at the venue in Gardens and couldn't believe the scene. There were naked men all over and different rooms were allocated to various sexual preferences and fetishes. I was offered a drink that immediately reminded me of the disgusting tot I had drunk earlier.
“This time, it hit me and I was hardly keeping my balance. Then suddenly I would realise that I was coming into consciousness again, not realising I was now going in and out without warning. When I next came to, I was in a bondage room wearing the leather items he had sent me. I knew I hadn't undressed and put them on,” he said.
When he was able to focus again, he realised Lifman was in the room. He claims Lifman was whipping and strangling a very young boy.
“He would slap him, spit on him, urinate on him. I felt sick. Lifman motioned for me to come closer. I tried to say I wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back. He grabbed me around the throat pushed me down and sat next to me,” he told IOL.
“He started telling me about his fantasies with young boys. Most of what he described was violent and dirty. He asked me if I knew of any new young boys on the street. I told him I didn't but he kept on telling me he wants me to be on the look out and befriend young boys for him to meet,” he said.
“I couldn't wait to get out of there. I soon realised I had taken in too much of what I now know was ‘G’. Often used by prostitutes to render their clients unconscious long enough for them to be robbed. It's a date rape drug.”
Eight hours later he awoke in a hospital where a doctor, seemingly in on what was happening asked where to send him as ‘people might start asking questions’. He was dropped off at the house he ‘worked’ at, but later got a note from Lifman asking why he left and stating he was followed.
The former employee also nearly lost his life when days later, while alone in the house, he was shoved through a gaping hole in the house and fell three storeys down.
He could only move his eyes and when his co-worker eventually found him, approximately three hours later, the ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital again. This time he was given a neck brace by the same doctor but despite his pain, she is alleged to have ignored his plea for morphine. She allegedly wanted to place him in a mental institution.
“I don’t know where I got the strength from but I waited for her to leave the ward. I only had on the hospital gown and jockey. I got out of the wheelchair, I started walking out of the ward. Told security I was going to smoke outside but I walked. I heard her scream for them to stop me. I walked faster. At the last gate the security guard said I was stealing hospital property referring to the gown. I tore it off and walked as fast as my wobbly legs and sore neck would allow me at 3am,” he said.
The former employee said he went to the Chek In Hotel in his underwear and begged for help. He stayed, covered in a blanket, until he saw it was safe to leave. He went back to Ocean View Drive where he packed a bag and left without saying a word.
He stayed out of Sea Point for a year before returning to the area.
“I was pushing my trolley which was full at the time. I was in Ocean View Drive when a black imported 4x4 stopped next to me and a very friendly man called me over to the window and said it looked as if I had been working hard and looked exhausted. He put out his hand, I could feel it was money in my hand. He told me to go and buy a decent meal and go down to the Main Road and go to Hotel 303 and give my name. He will have reserved a room for me to rest for the rest of the day. Many might think that to have been strange. But it really wasn't. I had for example been booked into the Cape Sun for a day of spoils before with no strings attached so, I had no reason to question this generosity.”
Upon arrival at the hotel, he said it was strange that the manager knew his name, the room had been booked in his name but he was too exhausted and went to the room and passed out out of exhaustion.
When he woke up, two men he knew were in the room.
“I asked what was happening and they said: ‘surprise’ and passed me a drink. I was thirsty and took a large gulp. I immediately realised I swallowed ‘G’. I hadn’t eaten anything and with that big gulp, I soon felt drowsy. I begged them not to call an ambulance or take me to the hospital should I pass out. I again woke up in Somerset Hospital. The same doctor.
“This time I heard them plan to transport me somewhere. I had however heard the shift doctor who took over the shift say I was ready to be discharged and they could prepare my papers. But it didn't happen and when I asked when I was getting discharged, I was told I was not. I got up and demanded to discharge myself. They tried to prevent me from discharging myself, but I eventually got a student doctor to allow me to discharge myself. I left. Got into a taxi and never looked back,” he said.
The former employee was now in fear as he said he had seen how Lifman’s bodyguards treated young boys he had sex with and how pimps who brought the boys mysteriously disappeared if the boy brought was not obedient.
“Lifman thought I would be a good link for him to get him young boys from the more disadvantaged backgrounds. He liked boys that were a little rough and tough. So that he had reason to punish them for insubordination later on during his power play with these boys. Lifman was a polished gangster, but a gangster nevertheless. He controlled the doors and thus the drug supply in the clubs of Cape Town for many years,” he said.
“He put on this business persona that would fool the most astute businessman but he had a cruel and sadistic side. A side that damaged many young lives. Lifman was a liar and a con artist and had the money to back up his bullshit. Had I not managed to escape the three times I landed up in Somerset Hospital, I would not be alive today. Lifman knew he was running a risk with me,” the former employee added.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL