Johannesburg - The confession of one of the men allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of police officers on a Joburg highway led to the arrests of his accomplices.
This emerged in the bail application in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court of Nhlanhleni Nzama and his co-accused, Vika Nzama, on Wednesday.
The court heard that Nhlanhleni allegedly confessed to being involved in the shooting and implicated both Vika and their alleged accomplice, Sandile Nyathikazi.
Nyathikazi, who was granted R10 000 bail on Friday, appeared alongside the men in a courtroom packed with their relatives and friends.
The trio are accused of fatally shooting constables Mthokoziseni Myeza and Maisha Mafokoane on the N3 near Modderfontein in March.
Another policeman travelling with the constables was also shot and wounded and is recovering in hospital. One of the suspects was killed at the scene.
Nhlanhleni was arrested at his home in Kranskop, KwaZulu-Natal, a few days after the crime.
The arresting officer, who did not want to be named, told the court that Nhlanhleni tried to flee when the police arrived at his home.
“He was standing in a group, but when he saw us, he was the only one that ran,” he testified.
But the officer ran after him, overpowered and arrested him.
Police recovered a firearm in his possession.
Nhlanhleni claims that after his arrest, officers took him to a nearby field and assaulted him.
But the officer denied the claim on Wednesday and said Nhlanhleni was taken straight to the police station.
Apart from the confession, the court heard that the cellphone taken out of the jacket pocket of the men’s dead accomplice was used to track down both Vika and Nyathikazi.
But the defence argued that the State was unable to link Vika and Nyathikazi to the scene because the ballistics and DNA results were still outstanding.
During Nyathikazi’s bail application earlier this month, the court heard that the trio allegedly shot and killed the police officers because they had prevented them from hijacking a cargo truck travelling from OR Tambo International Airport.
The testimony stemmed from a confession from one of the truck company’s employees, who told the police that they had a meeting with Nyathikazi about the potential hijacking.
Nyathikazi was also hired by the company as a part-time security guard to escort the company’s cargo en route from the airport. But the employee claims he reported the planned hijacking to his employers, causing them to change the time the truck left the airport that day.
Nyathikazi and his gang were unaware of the changes, and by the time they knew, the truck had already left the airport. The gang sped off to the route the truck was taking. Their reckless driving alerted officers on the N3. When they tried to stop their car, Nyathikazi and the others opened fire on the policemen.
The case resumes next week.
The Star