SAPS Captain Faces Intense Scrutiny in Modack Trial as Allegations of Police Conspiracy Resurface

Captain Alfred Barker faces tough questioning in the Modack trial as Judge Henney suggests the officer was "led astray" by the alleged gang boss.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 17, 2026, 10:47 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Eyewitness News

The Return of Underworld Allegations to the High Court

The Western Cape High Court has once again become a flashpoint for allegations of deep-seated police corruption as the trial of Nafiz Modack and his 14 co-accused resumed following a two-month recess. Modack, who faces 122 charges including the 2020 murder of Colonel Charl Kinnear, has long maintained that he was the victim of a conspiracy involving high-ranking SAPS officials. This week, the defense called SAPS Captain Alfred Barker to the stand to testify regarding investigations he launched into Modack’s rivals and colleagues nearly a decade ago.

Barker’s Investigation into Senior Police Officers

Captain Barker, formerly of the Crime Intelligence unit, detailed how he began investigating complaints from Modack in 2017. According to Barker’s testimony, Modack alleged that his underworld rival, the late Mark Lifman, was conspiring against him alongside senior officers Jeremy Vearey and Charl Kinnear. Barker told the court he had gone as far as arresting Lifman in 2018 for allegedly pointing a firearm at Modack and had compiled dockets against Vearey and Kinnear. However, Barker claimed that after handing these dockets to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for a decision, the files effectively vanished.

Judicial Skepticism and the "Misled" Witness

Presiding Judge Robert Henney was quick to question the validity of Barker’s actions and the quality of the evidence he collected. The judge suggested that the evidence Barker described was "scant" and insufficient to warrant any prosecutorial action. In a pointed exchange, Judge Henney warned Barker that he appeared to have been manipulated by Modack. "Evidence shows Modack withheld key facts and led you astray," Henney remarked, implying that the captain’s investigation may have been a tool used by the accused to target his institutional enemies.