Must-See: Head of 28s Gang Issues Threat to Government Official – Watch the Shocking Video Now!
Ralph Stanfield, the alleged head of South Africa’s notorious 28s organised crime gang, and his criminally co-accused wife, Nicole Johnson, appear to have used Prasa’s security chief Alexio Papadopulo to capture chunks of the government’s multi-billion-rand Cape Town central line presidential reconstruction project.
The central line, operated by Prasa but out of commission since the vandalism that began in late 2019, is the lifeline for Cape Town’s working-class, funnelling poor commuters from the Cape Flats areas of Nyanga, Langa, Valhalla Park, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Belhar, and Bellville into the city centre daily.
An investigation by amaBhungane reveals how, from at least 2022 until the infamous couple’s latest arrest in September 2023, Papadopulo allegedly aided their family enterprise in its elaborate scheme to control contracts that flowed from this beleaguered presidential project.
For years, the project has been plagued by extortionists and wracked by deadly violence.
While Prasa’s security boss has, in a slickly edited video, punted the success of efforts to restore control of the central line, our evidence shows that he achieved this by bending to Stanfield’s will.
On the one hand, in what looks like a classic extortion tactic, gunmen allegedly linked to Stanfield deliberately destabilised parts of the project – and Stanfield himself was filmed allegedly threatening a Prasa contractor.
On the other hand, evidence shows that Papadopulo punted at least one company associated with Stanfield to assist Prasa in dealing “with the problems faced on the ground” and “in keeping the peace” on the railway.
Our Prasa investigation dates back to 2022, when amaBhungane first began investigating Stanfield’s expansive business empire, whose commercial tentacles have spread into both the private sector and national government.
AmaBhungane has previously reported how Stanfield was able to trade on his reputation as an enforcer to develop relationships and bag contracts with big private sector players who wanted to develop King Air Industria, a commercial-industrial area around Cape Town International Airport.
Now we can reveal, based on evidence that we have been gathering since our investigation first began, how Stanfield and Johnson allegedly plotted and then carried out one of their most audacious project ‘heists’ to date – at Prasa – and the crucial role played by Papadopulo and a specialised internal security team which he established in 2021. AmaBhungane has pieced together this picture based on evidence that includes financial documents, interviews with sources both within Prasa and companies contracted onto the project, videos, and leaked emails, including from Papadopulo’s private account.
This evidence backs up circumstantial information, allegedly contained in handwritten business diaries, which we believe come from within the Stanfield-Johnson syndicate.
Papadopulo, a self-proclaimed cybersecurity expert, has attracted media attention for years over his current appointment, qualifications, and alleged closeness to former transport minister and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.
