Johannesburg - The case of the terror- accused twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie appears to be moving very slowly.
At the Johannesburg High Court on Monday, the pair saw another postponement to the pre-trial hearing related to their alleged terrorism plots in South Africa.
The twins appeared in court in high spirits, wearing black robes and grey kufis (Muslim headgear), with shackles on their feet.
Greeted with smiles from five women, the Thulsie twins walked into the courtroom expecting another postponement.
Both the State and defence team requested that the matter be adjourned in order to hand over additional foreign evidence to the court before a trial date is set.
State prosecutor Chris MacAdam told the court that he had discussed with the twins’ legal team matters of disclosure, and had to reschedule the trial-setting date to give them time.
“I indicated that we were in the process of receiving the foreign evidence and that there had been further local investigations, and additional statements were to be made,” said MacAdam.
Both the State and defence agreed to postpone the matter yet again, to May 30.
“The proposal from my side was that we make available the additional evidence, and the defence could then take into consideration whether it was necessary to persist in the application to disclosure, once they had seen the additional evidence,” MacAdam said.
There have been a number of postponements in this case, lasting over a year, due to the complexities of the parties involved, according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in Gauteng Phindi Mjonondwane.
Mjonondwane said: “As the NPA we can confirm the matter did appear for a hearing at the Joburg High Court and was postponed to May 30 for the State to disclose the content of the docket to the defence team, and also to set a trial date.”
“There have been several postponements due to the fact that this is a complex matter, as we might remember that they have been charged with acts of terrorism, in that the State alleges they formed part of people who planned to bomb certain embassies in Pretoria,” she said.
“Obviously, the State had to liaise with other countries outside of South Africa, hence these many postponements. Luckily, we are now ready for trial, as the State, and hence the matter has been set down for us to set the date for trial,” added Mjonondwane.
The Thulsie twins were arrested during raids in Newclare and Azaadville on the West Rand in July 2016.
They were allegedly linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Isis), and planning to detonate explosives at a US embassy and Jewish institutions in South Africa, according to the charge sheet.
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