One of the four police officers allegedly involved in a Llandudno house robbery in which items to the value of R28 million were stolen has denied the theft, saying the officers were conducting routine police raid duties following a tip-off.
One of the four police officers allegedly involved in a Llandudno house robbery in which items to the value of R28 million were stolen has denied the theft, saying the officers were conducting routine police raid duties following a tip-off.
Jacobus Groenewald, 44, alongside his three co-accused, Bradley Minnaar, 28, Mthuthuzeli Mafanya, 33 and Bathanwa Soldati, 38, were arrested on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft.
Groenewald took the stand at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and testified in his formal bail application. He told the court he would plead not guilty. The State indicated they would charge the accused under Schedule 6 according to the Criminal Procedures Act (CPA).
All of the accused’s counsel, however, contested the schedule type and submitted that the men be charged according to schedule 5 as Groenewald was allegedly the only armed officer and had not used or drawn his service pistol from the holster during the alleged robbery.
The defence said they did not dispute that there was a firearm during the incident, however, it “was not used or drawn”.
It was Groenewald’s version to the court that he had conducted the raid with his colleagues after he was tipped off on information regarding two suspects sought for cyber crimes and who were “owners of a large warehouse in Killarney Gardens where narcotics are stored”.
Groenewald said information was relayed to him that the suspects were home alone at a house in Llandudno and were unarmed, to which he and his colleagues responded for a raid search. According to Groenewald, they accessed the Llandudno premises by scaling a high wall and when a group of people inside the house saw police, there was a “scramble”, and some of the suspects escaped through a back exit.
“The ones that we caught in the house were one female and two males. The two men were fastened with cable ties. Each of us took one of the suspects with us as we searched the home so that they could make sure that nothing was planted while we conducted the search,” said Groenewald.
During the search, Groenewald said they came across empty Rolex, Cartier and jewellery boxes and when he probed one of the suspects about the empty boxes, he was told “it was to impress the ladies”.
Found in possession of an empty Rolex box on the day of his arrest at Squadron 35, Groenewald submitted that the box was allegedly picked up at a raid the previous day at a Table View premises “on the side of the house”.
The matter was postponed to October 15 for cross-examination while all suspects remain in custody.
The officers were arrested following an investigation by the Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit.
At the time of their arrest, police spokesperson FC van Wyk said: “On September 14 at about 1.35am a house robbery occurred at the premises of a foreign national in Sunset Avenue, Llandudno, allegedly involving several police officers. This case was reported at Hout Bay police and transferred to the Western Cape Ant-Corruption Unit for further investigation.
“Investigation by seasoned detectives led to the arrest of police members over a period of time. A 44-year-old sergeant was arrested on the same day at 35 Squadron in Belhar and later a 28-year-old constable was arrested at Gugulethu SAPS.”
Further investigations led to the arrest of a 33-year-old sergeant in Bellville two days later. The unit pounced on a 38-year-old sergeant at Philippi SAPS after the member was apparently linked through fingerprints found at the crime scene.
Thursday’s court proceedings came as three more suspects were expected to appear in court on Friday following their arrests in connection with the extortion case of two Chinese-owned shops in Milnerton.
They are accused of working with the eight police officers who appeared at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court earlier this week. A ninth suspect was added to the charge sheet on Wednesday following the cops’ appearance.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said: “The pursuit of SAPS to stop extortion in the Western Cape saw Provincial Detectives apprehend three additional suspects for extortion at two Chinese owned shops which was uncovered on October 6 in Milnerton.
“One of the suspects, a 51-year-old pastor, was arrested on a bus en route to Laingsburg (Wednesday) night, while a security officer was arrested at the mall where the extortion occurred. His colleague, who also performs duties at the mall, was arrested on Thursday morning at his Khayelitsha residence.
“This brings the total number of suspects to 12 in relation to the incident,” said Traut.
Cape Times
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