THE bail hearing of Alberto Samuel Fundzama (25) and his co-accused Marcelino oana Langa (43) has been postponed for the fifth time.
This is after their lawyer, Advocate Pieter Naude, failed to show up again in the Bushbuckridge Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 1 February.
In their previous court appearance, both accused said they were intending to plead not guilty to two counts of possession of suspected stolen Toyota Hilux bakkies worth over R1 million.
The bakkies were reported stolen from Delmas in Mpumalanga and Daveyton in Gauteng in December 2022.
The illegal immigrants from Mozambique have been behind bars since 25 December after being arrested by the police at Afsaal picnic site in the Kruger National Park.
Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said both suspects were trying to avoid operations conducted by the police by using routes in the Kruger National Park.
“After entering the park via the Numbi gate with the suspicion of trying to avoid police operations on the N4, the suspects possibly wanted to exit the park via the Malelane or Komatipoort gates.
“But enjoying the park, they decided to spend some time at the Afsaal picnic area. The tracker had already picked up the signal for one of the vehicles and the suspects had their last day of freedom on Christmas Day. The tracker alerted the police and San Park security personnel, who intercepted one of the vehicles,” said Mohlala.
He said the suspect revealed that there was a second stolen vehicle, which led to the arrest of the second suspect.
“The stolen vehicles were already fitted with false registration plates. Police cannot rule out possibilities of adding other charges,” said Mohlala.
Magistrate Ayesha Kikia postponed the matter to 22 February for bail hearing.
