The Western Cape High Court has set 19 October 2026 as the date that Ralph Stanfield, the alleged gang leader of The Firm, his wife Nicole Johnson, and their co-accused will go on trial.

Stanfield, however, feels he is already serving an ‘anticipatory sentence’ due to the delays and not being taken to court physically, reports News24.

He also feels that the conditions in his remand facility are psychologically harmful while he waits to defend himself on a multitude of charges.

These include the murder of City of Cape Town employee Wendy Kloppers, alleged 27s gang leader William Stevens, former Hard Livings leader Rashied Staggie (surviving twin of Rashaad, who was set alight and shot dead in 1996), policeman Faizal Adams, and Ismail Abrahams.

Stanfield, Johnson and all but one of their co-accused will have to wait in prison for their trial. The hearing on Friday was conducted via a video stream from their respective prisons.

This annoyed Stanfield to the point of complaining to Judge Mark Sher that his constitutional rights were being violated by not being able to appear in court in person.

‘My last (physical) appearance in court was 2023,’ Stanfield told Sher.

This meant he had no way of speaking to his lawyer privately without everybody in the courtroom hearing what he was saying, and could not even hear the defence or the prosecution during their submissions on Friday.

Stanfield said: ‘I humbly plead that I appear physically in court, my lord. I am basically serving an anticipatory sentence.’

Stanfield also complained about conditions at Helderstroom Prison, which he felt were psychologically harmful.

‘I train in a cage,’ he said. ‘They don’t even allow me to contact my wife,’ he said of Johnson, who was beamed in from an office at Pollsmoor Prison, where she is being held, notes News24.

In addition, Stanfield said he was only given 10 minutes of telephone time to speak to his children, but by the time he had gone through the rigmarole of being led to the telephone and dialling, he only had seven minutes left to speak.

‘My lord, they are doing with me what they please,’ said Stanfield. ‘I’m basically already sentenced.’

Sher was also asked during the session why the accused are scattered in prisons around the Western Cape.

Sher replied that due to the serious charges of gang activity that he and his co-accused face, it was understandable that the authorities would want to separate them. 

He said he could not intervene, and advised his lawyer to address these concerns with the relevant authorities. Stanfield’s lawyer, Laurance Hodes SC, also complained about the long distance to Helderstroom for consultation.

‘It’s about four hours from here. So, that’s a 12-hour operation to go and consult with him,’ he said.

Full News24 report