WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-05-06 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Alex Eliseev and Lee Rondganger
The police’s special unit investigating robberies linked to OR Tambo International Airport has arrested three men suspected of pulling off as many as 14 separate attacks.
On Monday, the trio made their first appearance at the Wynberg magistrate’s court and were charged with four of the alleged robberies.
By the time they return to court next week, police investigators hope to have held identification parades with as many as 30 witnesses and linked the suspects to 10 more cases.
This comes after months of denials from the police about any link between people landing at the airport and being held up at gunpoint outside their homes or hotels.
On Monday, Sibusiso Mkhize, Benson Khalushi and Nthabiseng Sibula stood in the dock to face charges of armed robbery.
The three were arrested on April 30 after police received information from informers.
A white Toyota Corolla – which was seized by the police – was allegedly used by the gang to carry out their spree.
During the arrests, the Johannesburg Organised Crime Unit also confiscated a variety of stolen goods, some of which have already been identified by theft victims.
The suspects are being kept at Johannesburg Central police station, and two of them have yet to secure defence lawyers.
The Star understands that all 14 cases being investigated involve people who had just arrived at their destinations from the airport when they were attacked.
In March, police announced there was no link between the airport and the robberies. In the weeks that followed, they continued to deny any connection and called it a coincidence.
Since last year, dozens of cases – involving tourists, locals, religious leaders, senior politicians, diplomats, singers and even a foreign police commissioner – have come under the spotlight.
Despite their recent successes in apprehending the alleged robbers, police are still unwilling to say if the suspects were targeting airport travellers.
National police spokesperson Captain Dennis Adriao on Monday said he could not comment on whether the suspects were targeting people arriving from the airport.
“That will all form part of the case we will be presenting in court. We cannot elaborate about anything because the case is now before the courts,” he said.
Adriao would also not comment on whether any other suspects had been arrested.
In addition to the three suspects who appeared in court yesterday, two weeks ago, two men, Freedom Mukwevho and Bongani Thabethe, appeared in the same court and are to stand trial over four attacks.
The four cases linked to the pair occurred within two hours of the victims leaving the airport. In just one of the attacks, R625 000 worth of goods and cash was stolen.
In the same week, two others went on trial for robbing a police director from Angola in May last year.
The case against Thomosana Mkhize and Dumisani Moyo is due to resume at the Wynberg magistrate’s court on May 21.