Pietermaritzburg - A Zimbabwean businessman who spent three months in prison after being charged in connection with the R16.3 million heist near Pietermaritzburg’s Oribi Airport plans to sue the state after charges against him were withdrawn.
The state withdrew a charge of robbery against Herman Ndlovu in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court last week on the instructions of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Ndlovu was arrested on October 14 last year in connection with the heist, and was initially denied bail by a local magistrate on the basis that he posed a flight risk.
He successfully appealed to the high court and on January 6 this year was granted bail of R50 000.
Ndlovu’s attorney, Srish Partab of Subash Maikoo and Associates, informed the Daily News that Ndlovu had instructed him to launch a civil claim for damages against the state for alleged unlawful arrest and detention.
The cash-in-transit heist in which a Brinks SA armoured vehicle was robbed of R16.3m in foreign currency occurred on May 28 last year near Pietermaritzburg’s Oribi Airport.
Ndlovu was the only suspect arrested in connection with the case.
In an affidavit submitted to the court at Ndlovu’s bail hearing, Warrant Officer Nelson Naicker said the Brinks SA armoured vehicle - a Toyota Hilux double cab - had picked up three bags of foreign currency at Oribi Airport at 8am and set off to deliver the money to various banks.
In Oribi Road, a Toyota Fortuner rammed into the armoured vehicle and several attackers armed with AK-47s confronted the three security guards.
Two attackers used a hammer to smash the armoured glass of one of the windows and then poured petrol into the Brinks SA bakkie and threatened to burn it if the officers did not open the doors. The guards then complied and opened the doors.
The attackers forced the three guards to lie on the road. The driver of the Brinks SA vehicle was assaulted in the process.
The gang escaped with the guards’ firearms, cellphones and bags of foreign currency.
Naicker alleged that Ndlovu’s cellphone records and data from his vehicle tracker system placed him at the scene of the crime.
Daily News
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