Ex-ANC man and his co-accused swiped R220‚000 in Soweto ATM heist‚ court hears

The men who allegedly robbed a cash-in-transit van in July took off with R220‚000 that was to be loaded into an ATM in Dobsonville‚ Soweto.

Solomon Mabasa told the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Friday that two G4S employees‚ a rifle handler and a custodian had gone to a mall in Dobsonville on July 5 to load money into a Capitec ATM when they were robbed at gun point.

Mabasa said: “The gun handler got out of the vehicle to assess the situation. After seeing that it was safe‚ he reported to the custodian and told him to get out.”

He was testifying in a bail application brought by former ANC employee Velile Errol Present and his co-accused‚ Itumeleng Manama‚ Bheki Biyela and Zakhele Zondi.

The four were arrested on July 6 and 7 and charged with armed robbery and possession of hijacked motor vehicles.

Mabasa said that when the custodian was on his way to the ATM he was cornered by an armed man who took two bags of money from him.

“He ran into the ATM safe and locked himself [in]. [The gun handler] was also attacked; a man who was attempting to rob him of his firearm. A struggle ensued between the two of them and Benjamin bit the man in the finger‚” he said.

“Two other men were waiting in two cars at the parking lot. A witness said they had seen the cars driving into the mall between 8am and 9am.”

The four accused have denied wrongdoing.

The bail application will continue on September 11.