Former ANC employee Errol Velile Present‚ who has been implicated in a cash-in-transit heist‚ is on Tuesday expected to take to the stand in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court‚ where he is to be cross-examined by the state in his bail application.
Present and three co-accused were arrested in July in connection with a heist outside a Capitec bank in Dobsonville‚ Soweto.
In his evidence-in-chief earlier this month‚ Present dismissed as a joke the ANC's allegations that he was simply a volunteer for the party‚ but alleged he had been on their payroll for over 14 years.
While the party had announced his dismissal following his arrest‚ Present told the court that he continued to pocket half of his salary from the ANC. In response to Present's allegations‚ party spokesman Pule Mabe released a statement that said‚ volunteer or not‚ Present no longer had ties to the organisation.
"The African National Congress reiterates that Velile Present is no longer in the employ of the organisation as he was summarily dismissed‚ following alleged criminality. We further need to categorically state that it is immaterial whether he was a volunteer or employed permanently. Present is alleged to have committed serious crimes during the very employ he refers to in his affidavit‚ culminating in his immediate dismissal‚" said Mabe.
"Should he be aggrieved on the processes followed‚ Present is welcome to approach any institution that will afford him satisfactory recourse. The African National Congress once again rejects Present's warped imagination that he is still employed by the organisation‚" he added.
Present and his three co-accused‚ Itumeleng Manama‚ Bheki Biyela and Zakhele Zondi were alleged to have taken over R200 000 in the heist.
It has thus far emerged that all of the accused have previous convictions. They have detailed to the court the manner in which they were arrested‚ alleging that they were assaulted by police‚ who wanted them to confess to carrying out the heist.
Present and the other suspects face charges of armed robbery‚ possession of hijacked motor vehicles and another charge of attempted murder in relation to a security guard who was shot in the heist.
Former ANC employee Velile Present to be grilled in bail application after heist arrest
Former ANC employee Errol Velile Present‚ who has been implicated in a cash-in-transit heist‚ is on Tuesday expected to take to the stand in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court‚ where he is to be cross-examined by the state in his bail application.
Present and three co-accused were arrested in July in connection with a heist outside a Capitec bank in Dobsonville‚ Soweto.
In his evidence-in-chief earlier this month‚ Present dismissed as a joke the ANC's allegations that he was simply a volunteer for the party‚ but alleged he had been on their payroll for over 14 years.
While the party had announced his dismissal following his arrest‚ Present told the court that he continued to pocket half of his salary from the ANC. In response to Present's allegations‚ party spokesman Pule Mabe released a statement that said‚ volunteer or not‚ Present no longer had ties to the organisation.
"The African National Congress reiterates that Velile Present is no longer in the employ of the organisation as he was summarily dismissed‚ following alleged criminality. We further need to categorically state that it is immaterial whether he was a volunteer or employed permanently. Present is alleged to have committed serious crimes during the very employ he refers to in his affidavit‚ culminating in his immediate dismissal‚" said Mabe.
"Should he be aggrieved on the processes followed‚ Present is welcome to approach any institution that will afford him satisfactory recourse. The African National Congress once again rejects Present's warped imagination that he is still employed by the organisation‚" he added.
Present and his three co-accused‚ Itumeleng Manama‚ Bheki Biyela and Zakhele Zondi were alleged to have taken over R200 000 in the heist.
It has thus far emerged that all of the accused have previous convictions. They have detailed to the court the manner in which they were arrested‚ alleging that they were assaulted by police‚ who wanted them to confess to carrying out the heist.
Present and the other suspects face charges of armed robbery‚ possession of hijacked motor vehicles and another charge of attempted murder in relation to a security guard who was shot in the heist.
READ MORE: