Cape Town - A constitutional challenge by a group of SAPS officers charged with extorting Chinese shop owners, seeking to have their case withdrawn, has been denied by the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
This comes as the eight officers, based at the Public Order Police Unit, made their much-anticipated first appearance in court yesterday following their arrest at the weekend.
According to a source, the uniformed officers allegedly used marked SAPS vehicles in China Town, and extorted R28 000 from the shop owners. They allegedly searched the premises without a warrant and threatened to arrest the shop owners, who are reportedly illegally in the country.
It is understood two shop owners were extorted out of R28000.
The Anti-Corruption Unit swooped in on the officers later that day and took them into custody.
Just a day later, police revealed they netted four more suspects, of which one was an ex-SAPS officer.
Jerome Davids, Nomapondomise Mvane, Peter September, Dylan Lodder, Thandolwethu Pendu, Akhona Silo, Phakamani Mtheli and Unathi Mlilwana were charged with aggravated robbery, extortion and defeating the ends of justice.
During court proceedings on Wednesday, attorney Sydney Tsotso told the court his clients, Silo and Mlilwana, had been brought to court outside of the 48-hour arrest period, saying their appearance was an encroachment on their Constitutional rights.
“I understand that not all the accused were arrested on the same day but in a recent judgment by the Supreme Court it was found that this type of behaviour shows police have a sense of entitlement to the 48 hours.
“They show no justifiable grounds to encroach on the Constitutional rights of the accused,” Tsotso said.
The magistrate enquired why the accused were not brought to court on Tuesday, but in response, the State prosecutor said the 48-hour period after their arrest ended at 7pm on Tuesday night, outside of the operational hours of the court. He further explained the investigating teams had been working hard to obtain the tracker details of the SAPS vans used in the incident as well as the CCTV footage from the China Town shopping complex.
The defence teams could be seen eagerly consulting with the police, enquiring when they were arrested as part of the challenge by Tsotso, but the magistrate ruled the suspects were lawfully before the court. It was heard that while the other officers had no pending cases against them, Davids was previously convicted of assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm.
Davids and September also asked to be kept in the hospital section of Pollsmoor Prison, saying they suffered from hypertension and diabetes.
The case was postponed to October 22 for a formal bail hearing.
Former police officer, Mthandazo Gqalaqha appeared separately to his former colleagues and was slapped with the same charges.
The State also withdrew the charges against two other accused, but at this stage the reasons are not clear.
Earlier this year, the release of alleged gunmen in Khayelitsha sparked an uproar after the magistrate ruled the accused had not been brought to court within the 48 hours. During the dramatic shootout between the would-be robbers and police on August 5, eight suspects were declared dead while five survived.
At the time, the Task Force and the Hawks were hailed as heroes by Capetonians after it was revealed the group had been intercepted before they could embark on a heist.
The suspects allegedly opened fire on the Task Force as officers approached the house where they were hiding out.
Inside the property cops found a host of assault rifles and explosives.
Days later, Tebogo Maluke, Cassiem Feni and Avuyile Mjongwana made their first appearance in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court while Simphiwe Mzawya and Sihle Mabongo were absent as they were still in hospital due to wounds sustained during the shooting.
During court proceedings, Feni’s legal representative, Josua Greeff, argued his client had been behind bars for more than 48 hours and claimed his appearance in court was unlawful.
Magistrate Brendale Abrahams agreed and removed the case from the roll. The remaining two suspects were subsequently remanded in custody.
National Head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya, later revealed they would be asking for a review of the decision as the officers called on the public to help them trace the three men.