Johannesburg shoot-out suspects appear in court under tight security

By Tichaona Sibanda
27 June 2006

Nine of the 11 men arrested after a shooting in Johannesburg on Sunday which left four policemen and eight armed robbers dead appeared in a magistrate court Monday and were remanded in custody until July 27.

The nationalities of the robbers who died in the shoot-out and those who surrendered to the police has now become an issue in South Africa, following strong claims in the media that some of the robbers were illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe.

The magistrate did not help matters either when she ordered that no names, addresses, identifiable photographs or video footage of the men be published. They were charged with armed robbery and attempted murder. The murder charges relating to the deaths of the policemen are still being formulated.

However, South African police spokesman superintendent Wayne Mimmer told Zimbabwe journalist Savious Kwinika in Johannesburg Tuesday that none of those killed in the shoot-out were Zimbabwean.

‘The police spokesman told me clearly that none of the dead was from Zimbabwe. Of those who surrendered he said investigations are still being carried out to ascertain their nationalities,’ Kwinika said.

South Africa’s Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has also refused to disclose the nationality of those killed saying police have not yet done any profiling of the robbers. But he revealed the robbers were militaristic in their behaviour.

Early this year, following a spate of high-profile armed robberies in South Africa, it was suggested by senior police officers that the crimes were being committed by ex-soldiers of the Zimbabwe National Army. It was said then that they were disgruntled former soldiers who fled Zimbabwe because of the poor working conditions and renumeration.

Media reports said the nine robbers in court were shackled at their ankles and cuffed at the wrists and they listened intently as three interpreters, one in Portuguese, explained that they faced charges that could lead to life sentences and that they had the right to choose legal aid. The court was cleared of journalists and spectators with at least 20 armed policemen filling the court.