Robbery and theft-accused cop Jacobus Groenewald - who was allegedly caught in prison with 200 mandrax tablets - saw his bail application fail at the Wynberg Magistrates Court this week due to his “tendency to interfere”.
Senior officer Groenewald will remain behind bars while his co-accused Bradley Minnaar, Mthuthuzeli Mafanya and Bathandwa Soldati were each released on R3000 bail.
The four cops are charged with a schedule 6 offence for aggravated robbery after the men allegedly stole jewellery from a Llandudno home in September last year and allegedly threatened one of the occupants with a fake gun.
The multi-million rand heist came about, the court heard, after the four cops had acted on information regarding two suspects sought for cyber crimes and who were “owners of a large warehouse in Killarney Gardens where narcotics are stored”.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila said: “(Groenewald) was denied bail as the court found that because of what he did (which was) changing the number plates of the police vehicle they were using on the evening and hiding items robbed from the scene, that shows he has a tendency to interfere and thus could interfere with the witnesses and evidence.”
While Groenewald got bail of R1000 for the possession of drugs charge after he was arrested in prison being allegedly caught with 200 mandrax tablets, he remains behind bars for the aggravated robbery charges.
“The drug case is on its own and there were no grounds to oppose bail as it’s a different schedule than the schedule 6 he faced for the robbery with aggravating circumstances at the house,” said Ntabazalila.
During bail arguments last week, the accused alleged the charges against them were weak and that being in custody for nearly 100 days and the 21 court appearances for bail application had prejudiced them.
Groenewald admitted he had swapped the number plates of his police vehicle and explained that he had done so by sticking a piece of a number plate, which he had taken from his home, to the front and back of the police vehicle with double-sided tape.
During bail proceedings, Groenewald also told the court that he had hidden a Louis Vuitton identity card holder in the grille of the bakkie he was driving the night of the robbery incident.
During bail proceedings, state prosecutor Lukhanyo Langeni said the investigating officer will testify that the card holder was found in the grille of the bakkie, to which Groenewald confirmed “that’s where it was, yes”.
The court also heard that the GPS tracking systems of both Groenewald and Minnaar’s vehicles were tampered with, causing them not to function properly during the alleged robbery. Groenewald said he had “no idea” where the tracking system was located.
Cape Times