Atlas Road cash heist suspects claim police brutality at first court appearance

There was heavy police presence at the Boksburg Magistrate's Court on Monday afternoon as five men accused of being involved in a cash-in-transit heist in Boksburg last Thursday made a brief appearance.

Thabo Molefe‚ Sibusiso Khumalo‚ Collen Hadebe‚ Thato Gaopantwe and Paul Sibanda appeared before the court at 2pm after consulting with their lawyers.

Before the men arrived in Court A‚ the court was locked and a team of police with a sniffer dog sweeped the room.

The men arrived at the Boksburg Magistrate's Court at 9am and were kept in holding cells while the court dealt with other matters.

There was also a heavy police presence outside the court building as police‚ one carrying an automatic rifle‚ stood guard.

Seven police vehicles‚ including two from the Hawks‚ were parked outside.

At the beginning of their hearing‚ all the accused asked to be housed at Boksburg prison and not at the police cells at the Johannesburg police station‚ as per the request of the prosecution.

The accused claimed they were assaulted at the Benoni police station‚ where they had been in detention since their arrest. The court dismissed the state's request for them to be detained at the police cells‚ saying that the reasons police wanted to detain them at the police cells - for obtaining their identification and for profiling the accused - did not require the accused to be in police detention.

The matter was postponed until next Monday for the police to confirm the accused's addresses‚ the profiling of the accused and for Gaopantwe‚ the only accused who was not represented by the lawyer‚ to obtain legal representation.

The men are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances‚ possession of unlicensed firearms‚ attempted murder and malicious damage to property. Two cash vans were bombed on Atlas Road in Boksburg last Thursday. The cash vans from G4S were targeted by 10 suspects which exchanged fire with the G4S guards. Two of the guards were injured. The suspects loaded the cash in a number of bags before fleeing the scene.

Police chased the suspects using a helicopter to assist them. Some of the suspects were cornered and arrested at George Goch hostel on the same day.