Johannesburg - Courtroom 5 at the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge looked like a regular courtroom on Thursday.
Ten men – Paul Tsietsi Kolobe, Lucky Mthombeni, Oupa Mazibuko, Josia Molefe, Dennis Zwane, Bongani Mthembu, Lungile Ngwenya, Noel Viwe, Luvuyo Mpotulo and Edwin Khumalo – had already pleaded not guilty to all charges levelled against them.
They face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances, pointing of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm or ammunition with intent to commit an offence or resist arrest.
The gang’s arrest hogged headlines in November 2012 when they allegedly attempted to rob the Protea Coin cash depot in Robertville, near Roodepoort.
These are the sort of crimes that society abhors. Yet the men are also facing their own struggle, as they’ve been waiting for almost three years since they were arrested to have their trial heard.
The wheels of justice have rolled slowly for their families. As they packed the public gallery, they were united; they want closure. They want the matter to be dealt with immediately, saying several postponements at the high court have left them drowning in debt.
“If the State alleges they are hardcore criminals, then why are they still not trialled? Why is the matter being postponed over and over again? The case was postponed about six times here at the high court,” said a distressed mother.
She claims she has been forced to change lawyers on numerous occasions for financial reasons. She told the Saturday Star she and her family had paid R100 000 in legal fees.
For another family, the delay has left them in debt after legal fees intensified over the years.
“We had to apply for loans to secure him (the accused) a good lawyer. As we speak, we are short of R50 000 to pay the due amount before the start of trial. I need to do something… Today I lost hope in our justice system,” said the wife of one of the accused.
“They have postponed the case over and over… One day they appear before this judge, the next time they appear before another judge.”
She said there was no guarantee that the case would proceed the next time the accused appear in court.
Both relatives of the accused who spoke to the newspaper requested that they not be named.
Accused 1, Kolobe, faces additional charges of possession of a forged passport, possession of forged identity documents and possession of stolen property.
The men, aged between 21 and 54, have been behind bars since their arrest in November 2012.
Bail was denied after their arrest at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court. Further attempts to secure bail for the men were declined.
Their families allege that the men appeared about 10 times at the court, where their matter was postponed. In 2013, they allege their matter was expected to be heard at the high court but several postponements followed.
At the time of the alleged crime, the gang had a shootout with the Hawks, who had been tipped off. Seven gang members were killed instantly at the scene. Nine of them were wounded and taken to hospital for medical attention before making their first appearance in court.
At the time, former Hawks spokesman Paul Ramoloko said the men were “not ordinary criminals” and “knew everything about that place”.
According to the indictment, the gang held meetings prior to November 2012 around Roodepoort, where they agreed to rob the Protea Coin Group Depot of about R110m.
Yesterday, the National Prosecuting Authority said a judge was appointed on Tuesday for the matter.
“With regards to the postponements in the magistrate’s court, most of them were occasioned by the accused persons bringing bail applications separately in dribs and drabs, so the State cannot be blamed for that,” said spokeswoman Phindi Louw.
She said the first trial date at the high court was in July 2014. “On that day, the accused did not have legal representation, so the matter was remanded. On the second occasion (February 2015) the matter was crowded out and remanded to July. In July we did not have a judge and the prosecutor allocated to handle the trial was still busy with the Krejcir matter. It was then remanded to August 2015. During August we still did not have a judge as the allocated judge, AJ Vorster, was busy. We then approached the judge president for a judge and Judge Hiemstra was allocated on Tuesday. The matter is remanded to October for the witness to testify,” she said.
Saturday Star