Johannesburg - These are the two cops who have been implicated in the kidnapping and attempted murder charges that Czech businessman Radovan Krejcir is facing.
The two burly Hawks members - Warrant Officer Samuel Modise Maropeng, nicknamed Saddam, and Warrant Officer Machache George Jeff Nthoroane - were arrested hours apart on Tuesday and appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Their case was postponed to Monday for a formal bail application and they will appear alongside Krejcir and another accused, Desai Lupondo.
All four have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder dating back to an incident in Elsburg in June, but police and prosecutors are yet to reveal their possible roles in the case or details of the incident.
The pair tried to hide their faces from the media cameras when they were brought to court in a police vehicle, by covering their faces with the clothes they were wearing. But when they were escorted from the cells, they waved at photographers.
The court was not as heavily guarded as it was when Krejcir appeared on Monday. Krejcir’s appearance was held behind closed doors amid security concerns.
On Wednesday, the two officers were guarded by four members of the police’s Tactical Response Team armed with assault rifles.
Both Hawks officers were represented by Victor Nkhwashu, who applied for an order granting Maropeng access to medical attention while in custody, because his client had told him that both his wrists were injured.
“I saw the left wrist was swollen,” Nkhwashu told the court.
Nkhwashu also requested that Maropeng have access to his medication for hypertension and asthma.
Magistrate Joel Martini granted the order.
Maropeng, 41, and Nthoroane, 46, were arrested at the offices of the Germiston Organised Crime Unit on Tuesday.
The head of the unit, Colonel Francois Steyn, recently admitted to the Mail & Guardian that he took a loan from Groep Twee Beleggings, whose sole director is Krejcir’s wife, Katerina Krejcirova.
Steyn told the paper he had no knowledge that the company was controlled by the Czech fugitive when he took the loan in 2010.
Police have denied any link between the arrests and the report.
Meanwhile, it emerged this week that convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti also took a loan of R400 000 from Groep Twee.
Sars was granted a provisional sequestration order on Agliotti’s estate on Monday in the Pretoria High Court, which means he has until February 10 to respond.
The Star