MALALANE – The five suspects who were arrested during the commotion on the Jeppe’s Reef Road turnoff on the N4 toll road last week, briefly appeared in the Malalane Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The case had been postponed to yesterday, where they were expected to apply for bail.
Messrs Norman Madonsela, Sakhi Mhlongo, Sam Chauke, Amos Khoza, and Ms Sahlulelo Mgununda, have been charged with armed robbery.
Provincial spokesman for the SAPS, Col Leonard Hlathi said police spotted a blue Toyota Yaris that matched the description of a vehicle alleged to have been involved in a robbery.
“On November 22 at approximately 10:00, police in Malalane received information about an armed robbery that took place in Komatipoort. All structures were put in place to track and catch the suspects.
“They spotted a blue Toyota Yaris which matched the description of the vehicle alleged to have been involved in the robbery. The suspects were travelling on the N4 between Hectorspruit and Malalane. They signalled to them to stop but the driver ignored them and sped off. Police gave chase until they fired a shot at the vehicle’s tyre near the off-ramp to Jeppe’s Reef. Four men aged from 22 to 30, with a 32-year-old woman, were cornered and arrested.
Two loaded firearms with their serial numbers filed off were recovered and they will be sent for ballistic testing at the Forensic Science Laboratory. Police further recovered an undisclosed amount of cash believed to have been stolen in the robbery where the workers from a sugar cane contractor were to be paid.
It is alleged that one of the suspects is an employee of one of the farms that was robbed that morning.
