'Handbag hero attackers have done it before'

The three men linked to Noxolo Ntuli’s robbery and assault case‚ which was widely reported on social media last week‚ are repeat offenders.

Police said the trio have previous house robbery and robbery cases pending against them. The crimes were committed this year in Auckland Park‚ Melville and Brixton.

Abdul Mohammed‚ Ellis Mpamanda and Amraan Kamanga were arrested in Brixton on September 12 after they were captured on CCTV footage attempting to rob Ntuli‚ a medical scientist at the National Health Services Laboratory.

Ntuli was walking back from work when armed men driving a fancy MG Rover pounced on her and violently demanded her handbag. The 26-year-old fought off her attackers and fled with her handbag‚ which had a hard drive containing a draft of her master's thesis.

The suspects were arrested hours after the incident. They made their second court appearance at the Newlands Magistrate's Court on Thursday morning.

The case was postponed to October 3 for a formal bail application. The men will remain in custody until their next appearance.

Brixton police spokeswoman Jeanette Backhoff confirmed that the suspects have previous cases and current evidence suggests that they are part of a syndicate targeting student residential areas in Johannesburg.

Backhoff said more suspects linked to this group could be arrested soon.

“A fourth suspect linked to this group was also arrested last week. Investigators are gathering more information that would possibly lead to more arrests‚” she said.

The men were caught in possession of a gas gun‚ cellphones and a laptop.

Their vehicle has been impounded since the arrest.

The suspects are all Malawian nationals.

The state intends to oppose their bail application‚ according to Backhoff.