Cape Town - The case against four accused, including SANDF member Sakhele Nkabi, has been postponed for bail applications.
Nkabi, Simphiwe Matwa, Lwandiso Lento and Masixole Dolomba appeared in the Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court on Monday. They were arrested last week for allegedly being involved in a cash-in-transit heist at a petrol station.
Matwa, Lento and Dolomba were arrested by the Hawks minutes after the heist. Nkabi was arrested on Friday.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the case against Matwa, Lento and Dolomba was postponed until July 28 for bail profiles.
Ntabazalila said Nkabi was included in the case yesterday.
He said the remand date remained the same. However, a tentative date for bail application was arranged for August 3.
He said the four accused were charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and pointing of a firearm.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the arrests came after security guards from Fidelity Cash Solutions were robbed while collecting cash from a petrol station.
Hani said one of the guards was accosted by two armed suspects while on his way back to the armoured vehicle. He was disarmed of his service pistol and robbed of a bag containing cash.
"Minutes after the robbery, the Hawks' team stopped a Nissan Sentra and arrested three occupants. A search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of the stolen firearm and sealed money bag, along with a second firearm which had its serial number filed off," she said.
Hani said the Hawks team also found a SANDF uniform in the Nissan Sentra.
She said a loyal service medal was pinned to the jacket with the name and rank of the SANDF member.
"Further probing found that the vehicle that was used in the robbery, a white Toyota Tazz fitted with false number plates, had been driven by the SANDF member.
“The Tazz drove away from the crime scene and stopped next to a silver/blue Nissan Sentra and the stolen goods were transferred to the Sentra."
Hani said on Wednesday, the Hawks team followed up on information received from Oudtshoorn detectives on the whereabouts of the Toyota Tazz.
She said the vehicle was found parked inside a garage of a residence in Oudtshoorn, not far from the infantry school. A set of false number plates was found inside the vehicle.