Justice department says Booysens court shooting tied to ongoing murder trial

The brazen shooting where two people were shot and three were injured in the precinct of the Booysens Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, happened when a man had walked out of the court after attending a case linked to a murder committed in April 2025.

The unidentified man is out on bail, and SAPS spokesperson in Gauteng, Brigadier Brenda Muridili, told IOL that the 2025 murder-accused man was not injured during the shooting at court on Tuesday. The man had just attended court in connection with the brutal murder committed last year. He was with his family, friends, and his legal representative when unidentified gunmen opened fire.

On Tuesday, IOL reported that at least five people were shot, and two were killed, during the incident at the Booysens Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg.

At the time, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development said it had learnt with serious concern of the shooting. 

On Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel said government officials were briefed in detail by the South African Police Service following the brazen shooting. 

The 2025 murder occurred at a pub in Mondeor. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika on Wednesday morning, Nel said one of the people shot on Tuesday has previously appeared in court several times.

The murder trial relating to the 2025 fatal stabbing was due to start next week. On Tuesday, the Booysens Magistrate’s Court held a pre-trial conference in preparation for the start of the trial.

“In short, what happened last year is that there was an incident at a pool hall in which the accused got into a fight and ended up stabbing and killing other young people. They have been released on bail, and they have appeared in court on a number of occasions, and yesterday there was a pre-trial conference in preparation for the start of the trial on the 28th,” said Nel.

“As they were leaving, they were accompanied by their family, parents, other family members and a legal representative. That is where the three assailants opened fire on them in the parking lot, killing two, wounding three.”

Nel said the assailants were captured on CCTV cameras and were wearing caps, adding that police were scrambling to identify the killers.

“There is other evidence which I wouldn't want to go into on air, that the police are also pursuing,” Nel told the television news channel.

“It would be premature to speculate as to the identity and motives but I think the circumstances suggest very, very strongly that this is related to the incident that gave rise to this case. The possibility of gang-related links are not excluded but I wouldn’t want to speculate until we have received further reports from the police.”

Anti-crime activist and eNCA presenter Yusuf Abramje said one of the victims of the shooting on Tuesday was criminal lawyer Paul Leischer. The legal representative survived the shooting.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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