Drive-by shooting at home of witness to cop murder

The quiet of a suburban street in the greater Glenhazel area was broken when a rally of gunshots was fired at the home of a Jewish family at around 21:00 on Monday, 30 November.

“I heard the gunshots, but thankfully I and my family are safe,” was all Bradley Goldblatt would say to the SA Jewish Report about the incident at his house, adding that he had been advised not to talk to the media at this stage.

Reporting on the incident, News24 journalist Jeff Wicks wrote that Goldblatt is “a key witness in the probe into the murder of Anti-Gang Unit cop Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear”.

MyBroadband reported that “Goldblatt is the person who alerted police that location-based services were used to track Kinnear’s phone. Goldblatt, who is a former police officer, was an agent of the company 1TRACK, which provides security, monitoring, tracking, and tracing services.”

A friend of the family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “A vehicle shot three times into his driveway, damaging his bakkie, before driving off. It’s believed that this was a warning to him, as the bail application of [Zane] Kilian [a suspect in Kinnear’s killing] was set to proceed yesterday [Tuesday]. The scene was processed by SAPS [the South African Police Service], who took photographs and collected any evidence left on the scene. Detectives and all key players were there.”

Another friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had arrived at the house five minutes after the shooting. “Family members were there too, and they said that all they saw was the car driving down the road and its tail lights as it went around the corner.”

He said Goldblatt was also a private investigator. “He was worried something like this was going to happen, especially after a blog post published personal details about his family. He has had two armed guards stationed at his home for the last while.”

Another News24 article on 25 November said Goldblatt was “living in fear”.

“I have had vehicles stopping outside my house which bear false registration plates, and then speeding off when confronted by security guards. I have not left home since 20 October due to fear of attack, and I have not been able to work as various clients have declined my services. I understood that my life was under threat,” he said.

Addressing rumours that the shooting was “staged”, Goldblatt said he didn’t stage it, while an anonymous friend said, “To believe that he would stage something like that at his own house is going a bit far.”

Earlier on the day of the shooting, Goldblatt spoke to Chad Thomas on his Confidential Brief show on ChaiFM on the pinging of mobile phones. He said he had assisted with “50 to 60 high-profile arrests”, including kidnappings and missing person cases.

A local rabbi who knows the family well said they were shaken by the incident. The family had been advised by the relevant authorities not to speak to the media for their own safety and to avoid compromising the case, and their privacy should be respected at this time.