Cape Flats on edge as Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie’s son shot dead

Abdullah Boonzaaier, the son of late Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie, was gunned down in Manenberg, Cape Town on Saturday evening, in what appears to have been a gang hit.

Gruesome pictures of Boonzaaier’s bloody corpse have been circulating on social media since the murder.

Manenburg police spokesperson Captain Ian Bennett told News24 that Boonzaaier and a group of men were gambling in the middle of Beatrix Lane when they came under fire, with multiple shots hitting the gangster.

“[He] lay lifeless, face down with multiple gunshot wounds to his face. He collapsed and succumbed to his fatal injuries on the scene. The suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested,” Bennett said.

He said additional police officers were deployed to hotspot areas, and urged the public not to “fuel the tension among the gangs”.

Manenberg Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Vernon Visagie told News24: “Community members are now fearful and [for] obvious reasons. This latest murder could start another gang fight in the area and this we are not looking forward to.

“We are appealing to members of the community to please stay safe and refrain from circulating any fake news about this death.”

Who was Rashied Staggie?

Rashied Staggie was the leader of Cape Town’s notorious Hard Livings gang, which he founded in 1971 along with his twin brother Rashaad.

The gang was notorious for their violence and international reach, dealing in drugs and having ties to international criminal organisations.

Rashaad was initially the gang’s leader, but was burned alive in Salt River in 1996, by members of vigilante group PAGAD (People Against Gangsterism and Drugs).

Rashied Staggie was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2004, for the kidnapping and rape of a 17-year-old girl who had testified against him in another case.

He was also sentenced to 13 years in prison for burglary and theft from the police armoury in Faure. He served nine years, before being released on parole.

He was eventually gunned down on 13 December 2019, while sitting in a car outside the same home in Salt River where his brother Rashaad was killed.

Two gunmen approached the car and fired several shots at Staggie, who was confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital.