Israeli Gangsters Blamed for Murder of Winnie's Friend

Wearing her trademark diamonds, blonde socialite Hazel Crane was last week gunned down in broad daylight in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb, a gangland-style murder with all the hallmarks of the Israeli mafia that has horrified South Africans.

The flamboyant widow, close friend and confidante of disgraced icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was driving her Mercedes, her initials on the licence plate, to attend the trial of a man accused of murdering her diamond dealer husband.

When she stopped at a traffic light near her Abbotsford home, a man stepped out from behind a dustbin and pumped six shots into the car, fatally injuring Crane, 56, and wounding her passenger. The hitman jumped into a waiting car and roared off.

News of the assasination spread so quickly that journalists were calling police headquarters before authorities knew Crane was the victim. Madikizela-Mandela rushed to the Milpark Hospital and was there when Crane was declared dead. Nelson Mandela's former wife then went to Crane's home to comfort family members.

Crane was going to court to testify against Lior Saadt, who is accused of killing her estranged husband Shai Avissar in October 1999. Crane had told police Saadt pulled a gun on her and threatened 'to blow her head off'. Of Saadt, she told reporters: 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'

She is the third witness against Saadt to have been murdered. Julio Bascelli was shot in the head in a deserted garage soon after Avissar's murder and Carol Binne was shot dead at the Gecko Lounge, a Johannesburg nightclub, in April 2001. One of the state's only remaining witnesses is the 48-year-old unnamed woman who was the passenger in Crane's car. She was shot in the hand and remains in hospital under tight police security.

Police said they are hunting for Amir Moila, another alleged member of the Israeli gang, who is also wanted for Avissar's murder. Avissar was the head of the South African wing of the Israeli Ramat Amidar gang and his lieutenant was Saadt, according to Police Superintendent Chris Wilken. Saadt allegedly killed Avissar to seize control of the South African operations, which include lucrative diamond smuggling, drug smuggling, money laundering, extortion, protection rackets, fraud and murder.

Crane had gone into hiding after her husband was killed. She had already survived two other attempts to kill her and used bodyguards.

Crane had started a business as a commodity broker before becoming involved with Avissar. In 1993 she was convicted of illegal dealing in uncut diamonds. In 1995 she was involved in a dispute over missing gems and an illegal foreign exchange deal.

Despite their ineffectiveness in curbing the blood-letting that eventually claimed Crane, South Africa's police say they will crack the diamond trading gang. 'We are not going to be intimidated by the Israeli mafia,' said Wilken after Crane's murder. 'We are more than capable of dealing with them.'