CAPE TOWN – Convicted drug dealer Alan Bushby (52) has been sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment in the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town after being found guilty on a charge of dealing in drugs, after he helped to bring more than 400kg of cocaine into the country from international waters off Still Bay.

The court sentenced Bushby to 15 years’ direct imprisonment after he entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State. Five years of the sentence were suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of contravening Sections 4 or 5 of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 during the period of suspension.

Bushby will now testify against his co-accused, Renaldo Beukes (35), Dicky Johan Benzien (50), Mathew Fourie (23), Jordan Cullingworth (29), Nemanja Vuckovic (31), Marko Ninc (41), and Josip Ivanovic (39), who face charges of murder and dealing in drugs.

Vuckovic, Ninc, and Ivanovic are also charged with contravening Section 49(1), read with Sections 1 and 48, of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 for allegedly being in the country illegally.

Bushby stated in his plea agreement that Mathew Smith approached him in July 2024 and asked whether he was interested in making quick money by helping to recover cocaine from the sea.

He was informed that a passing ship would drop a shipment of cocaine into international waters off the coast of Still Bay and that he would assist in retrieving the parcels and bringing them safely ashore. He was told that the cocaine shipment weighed approximately 100 kilograms.

Bushby agreed to participate because he needed money to start a new business venture in Namibia called Desert Adventures.

Although he was not told how much he would be paid, he was given the impression that the payment would be substantial. He was instructed to board a rubber duck at 05:00 on 18 July 2024 with a group of people waiting for him at the Still Bay Harbour.

Bushby had travelled to South Africa with his Namibian girlfriend, whom he met while pursuing business opportunities in the tourism industry in Namibia. She was unaware of his involvement in the drug recovery operation.

Bushby told her that they would be visiting South Africa as tourists because she wanted to see the Western Cape.

He later informed her that he would be going on a fishing trip on 18 July 2024 and would return the following day. He asked her to drop him off at the harbour that morning. He also told her that she and Smith, whom he described as an old friend needing a lift to Cape Town, could explore nearby areas while he was away.

Bushby arranged for her to collect him from the harbour on 19 July 2024, after which they would spend the night in Still Bay and travel to Cape Town the next day to drop off Smith.

On the morning of 18 July 2024, Bushby’s girlfriend and Smith dropped him off at the harbour, where he met Ninc, Ivanovic, Beukes, and others whose identities he could not recall with certainty.

Beukes and Benzien were introduced as the skippers, while Ivanovic, who appeared to be in charge, remained close to Ninc.

Ivanovic provided Beukes with a satellite phone and advised him that he would receive coordinates identifying the location where the shipment would be dropped within the next 48 hours.

Bushby was told that his role would be to help lift the shipment from the water, secure it, and transport it back to the harbour.

Beukes subsequently received coordinates that changed several times. He later received instructions to return to the harbour to collect another man and additional fuel. The unidentified man carried a satellite phone, which he used to confirm to someone else that he had been picked up.

The group later located the ship. They flashed their torches toward it and received a response. The drugs were subsequently dropped into the sea and recovered. Shortly after the shipment had been secured, Ninc received a call, and the group was instructed to remain at sea until further notice regarding their return to the harbour.

They eventually received permission to return. While en route to the harbour, Bushby heard a loud bang. He then saw Ninc, who had been seated next to the last man to board the rubber duck, holding a firearm, while the unidentified man lay dead.

According to Bushby, Ninc, speaking in broken English, pointed at Beukes, Benzien, and the others on board and said, “You good, you are good, you good”. He then pointed at the deceased and said, “He is not good”.

Ninc allegedly threw the deceased’s body overboard, after which Beukes and Benzien cleaned blood from the boat.

Bushby told the court that he was terrified and feared he might be next. He said he had not known that Ninc was carrying a firearm and had no knowledge of any plan to kill the deceased.

The group returned to the harbour on the evening of 19 July 2024 after spending the day drifting at sea. Bushby was instructed to drive an SUV towing a boat trailer, while Ninc and another man travelled with him toward Jongensfontein.

Police later stopped the vehicle, but Bushby and Ninc jumped out and fled on foot. They went to a guesthouse in Still Bay hoping to spend the night there, but police arrested them later that evening. Bushby never received any payment for his role in the operation.

He further stated that he later learned that Smith had died in what was believed to be a suicide.

The case against the remaining accused has been postponed until 28 August for another pre-trial. Further particulars will be forwarded to the new legal representatives of Fourie and Vuckovic. The matter has also been postponed for a Serbian interpreter for Vuckovic, Ninc and Ivanovic.