Fatal shoot-out trial alert
ONE of the four men arrested after a fatal shoot-out during a shop robbery at Surrey Estate yesterday told the Athlone Magistrate’s Court that he has been refused medical treatment while in police custody.
Andile Mafanga, 34, and Thobela Frans, 39, from Khayelitsha, and Delft resident Unathi Magadla, 38, appeared in court after being arrested on Monday night.
Six heavily armed police officers stood guard inside court as the matter proceeded.
The men had been arrested after trying to flee with R22 000 they had taken from Primrose Market on the corner of Ruimte and Orion roads on Monday night.
Thabiso Mahilihili, 34, from Khayelitsha, was also arrested after being shot in the foot. He is currently under police guard at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Two of the four accused face charges of attempted murder, while all four have been charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
State prosecutor Rashied Daniels requested that the matter be dealt with in Mahilihili’s absence. Daniels told the court that Mahilihili was on parole until 2025 for another matter and that the State would seek to oppose bail for all four accused in the matter.
Two other men allegedly involved in the robbery had been shot dead, while a woman and a policeman were left critically injured during the shootout on Monday.
Daniels said the merits of the case include that Primrose Market was robbed by a group of men armed with an R5 rifle and 9mm handguns, and that the men held up the supermarket and stole R22 000 in cash before fleeing.
He said the group arrived in several vehicles, one of which was hijacked in May.
A “special police unit” had been tracking the vehicle on the night, Daniels said.
“Once outside, a shoot-out with police ensued and two other men allegedly involved in the robbery were shot dead, and a woman and a policeman were critically injured. One other suspect, accused four, was shot and injured,” Daniels said.
He
said
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suspects escaped after hijacking a BMW outside the shop and using “other vehicles”.
Frans then requested permission to speak in court and relayed that despite requesting medical treatment for a chest injury he sustained during the incident on Monday, police had neglected to grant his request.
Daniels was instructed to make sure Frans received treatment.
The matter has been postponed to June 17 “to obtain full bail information and to give the accused time to appoint an attorney”.