Rustenburg - The case against 88 suspected illegal miners was postponed to October due to the non appearance of their lawyer in the Stilfontein Regional Court.
The group appeared at the regional court in Stilfontein near Klerksdorp on Tuesday, and the case against them was postponed to October 12 for their attorney to be present in court.
"The attorney for all 88 suspects, did not appear in court and no reason was provided for his absence. The court warned against further delays on this matter, as the last postponement was prompted by the defendant’s failure to provide the State with a hard drive, at which the content of the docket, which includes video footage will be provided for pre-trial to commence," said Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the North West division.
He said the court extended the bail granted to Thethile Master Boyce, 60, who was added to the charge sheet as the 88th suspect.
He was released on R2 000 bail, while the other 87 remain in police custody.
The Hawks’ investigations revealed that Boyce is a taxi owner who allegedly transported the suspected illegal miners to and from the mine, and transported food. His taxi was seized by the Hawks after his arrest.
"In the last court sitting on August 11, 2022, all 87 accused indicated their intention to the court of applying for bail and have appointed a different attorney to represent them for this application. They initially abandoned bail, owing to their illegal status in South Africa," he said.
They are charged with six counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiracy to commit robbery, illegal mining, possession of automatic firearms, attempted murder and contravening the Immigration Act.
Eight of the alleged zama zamas were wounded and six others gunned down during a shootout with members of the Special Task Force, assisted by Hawks Organised Crime, in the North West, during an intelligence-driven operation on October 20 in 2021.
"The eight injured have since been discharged from the hospital and are now in police custody. Following the shootout, police discovered two mini buses, illegal mining paraphernalia, gold-bearing material, and 11 illegal firearms (three shotguns, three rifles, four pistols and one revolver) and bags of food," Mamothame said.
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