The trio, which is intending to plead not guilty to the charge, said in affidavits read in court by their lawyer Advocate Siyabonga Khumalo that their continued incarceration negatively affected their families.
Ntombi said she had been married to Mbangiseni Hendrick Rapholo, who is also a
co-accused in the matter, for 26 years. The two have a 20-year-old daughter who is a student at a university.
Ntombi said she ran a creche in Springs where she generated R10000 income a month. She said she used the money to pay for her daughter's studies.
"I am self-employed with a child to take care of. My continued incarceration will prejudice me. My child will suffer a lot, especially because both my husband and I are in custody," she said.
Stolen cash trio wants to go home
The three women who were found in possession of more than R1.5-million that was allegedly stolen from Fidelity security company have told the Germiston Magistrate's Court that their children were in distress due to their detention.
Ntombi Rapholo, 42, Elizabeth Rapholo, 49, and Ellen Gama, 61, were in court yesterday for bail application.
They were arrested over huge amounts of cash found at their homes, most of which was dug up in one of the yards.
The money is suspected to have been stolen from a cash truck by guards who were supposed to protect it.
The trio, which is intending to plead not guilty to the charge, said in affidavits read in court by their lawyer Advocate Siyabonga Khumalo that their continued incarceration negatively affected their families.
Ntombi said she had been married to Mbangiseni Hendrick Rapholo, who is also a
co-accused in the matter, for 26 years. The two have a 20-year-old daughter who is a student at a university.
Ntombi said she ran a creche in Springs where she generated R10000 income a month. She said she used the money to pay for her daughter's studies.
"I am self-employed with a child to take care of. My continued incarceration will prejudice me. My child will suffer a lot, especially because both my husband and I are in custody," she said.
Elizabeth, whose husband Matome Rapholo is also a co-accused in the matter, told the court she had been married since 1987. The two have two adult children aged 22 and 29. She too runs a daycare centre.
"I make R12000 a month. I will not abandon my family and children to become a fugitive," Elizabeth said.
Gama, a pensioner, told the court she feared her continued incarceration could affect her old-age grant.
Investigating officer Warrant Officer Paul Kgoedi said he did not have a problem with the trio being released on bail.
Mbangiseni Rapholo and his colleague Clement Ramonaheng Motsotsi allegedly stole R6-million from their employer, Fidelity, after they had apparently collected the money from different areas on the East Rand.
The two were arrested after they allegedly returned 13 bags of money instead of the 106 bags that they had collected.
The bail hearing was postponed to next week.