Pretoria - Two members of the so-called “blue-light brigade” briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms.
Patrick Masemola appeared with Raymond Malefo and their case was postponed to April 25. The third co-accused in the matter, Gideon Mokgalaka, was not in court as he is in custody for another offence and was not requisitioned to appear.
The three were arrested in June last year following a spate of robberies in Bronkhorstspruit, Cullinan, Welbekend and Pretoria. It is alleged that they posed as police officers and used blue lights on their vehicles to pull over motorists and rob them. It was this modus operandi that made police refer to them as the blue-light brigade. Malefo is the only accused still on bail.
Shortly after the two appeared, Malefo was asked to leave the dock and Tapelo Faro Sekediele joined Masemola. Sekediele and Masemola were denied bail earlier this week by magistrate Anton Klopper on charges of robbery, kidnapping and possession of unlicensed firearms.
Klopper said he was convinced that bail conditions would not deter the two from committing more crimes.
They were arrested on March 11 for allegedly hijacking a minibus in Cullinan. The modus operandi used in the hijacking was similar to that used by the blue-light brigade. Masemola apparently dropped a police cap at the scene.
Masemola faces more than 38 counts of robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms related to several other incidents dating back to 2010.
He was also convicted for murder in 1984 and served a seven-year jail term.
The case against Sekediele, a first time offender, will be combined with Masemola, Malefo and Mokgalaka.
The court heard that another accused, Manase Sampson Mokgalaka, the alleged ringleader of the blue-light brigade, was also due to appear yesterday but he could not be brought to court as he was in a prison hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg, sustained during his arrest.
The case was postponed in absentia.
Pretoria News Weekend