Clear and Present danger: The heist suspect who ruined the ANC's day

19 July 2018 - 06:40 By Penwell Dlamini
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Errol Velile Present, the ANC employee who lost his job after he appeared in court in connection with a cash-in-transit heist. A source in Luthuli House verified that this Facebook picture is of Errol Velile Present.
Errol Velile Present, the ANC employee who lost his job after he appeared in court in connection with a cash-in-transit heist. A source in Luthuli House verified that this Facebook picture is of Errol Velile Present.
Image: via Facebook

It was 5.46am when the bombshell dropped. It was a pre-dawn shock, courtesy of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, who lifted the lid on an ANC man being arrested in Soweto – allegedly for his links to cash-in-transit heists.

But at the time, Mashaba said that the man – who was among four men arrested during a raid in Dobsonville two weeks ago – was only “believed” to be employed at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters.

It was a comment that sparked rumours and speculation, the nation desperate to find out the name of the ANC man who was allegedly personally involved in at-gunpoint heists.

The rumour mill continued throughout the morning until the name became public: Errol Velile Present.

Less than five-and-a-half-hours after Mashaba’s statement, at 12.11pm, Luthuli House confirmed that one of its employees was indeed arrested. The party was, of course, “dismayed”.

However it decided not to name Present, despite knowing that he had already appeared in court. But as media houses continued to name Present, Times Select started digging – and quickly found that his past was particularly shady.

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