The suspects in the Mark Lifman murder case have been identified as Johannes Jacobs (53) and Gert Bezuidenhout (37).

The two men appeared briefly in the George Magistrate’s Court this morning and requested to be held in solitary confinement while detained. The magistrate denied their request.

The case was postponed to next Wednesday for the state to gather bail information.

Various media houses were gathered at the court, where a high police presence was maintained, and everyone entering was subjected to a thorough search.

Provincial police top brass, including provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Adv Thembikile Patekile, also attended the proceedings and briefed the media:

Lifman was shot in the parking area at the Garden Route Mall on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon, the two suspects were arrested near Uniondale in the Western Cape.

Lifman was due to appear in the Western Cape High court yesterday for the Brian Wainstein murder trial.

The main accused

Wainstein, who was shot at his home in Constantia, Cape Town, in August 2017, was known as the ‘Steroid King’. Lifman was the main accused alongside alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen.

The trial, which began in the Western Cape High Court in April, was postponed yesterday following Lifman’s killing.

Prosecutors claim Lifman paid to have Wainstein killed and that he and others took over Wainstein’s illegal steroid business.

The accused in the Wainstein case, including Lifman, Booysen, and 12 others, face 36 charges, including murder, attempted murder, gang activities, and firearm offenses. The trial will resume on Monday.