A hand gesture resembling handguns being cocked is how one of the men accused of kidnapping an eight-year-old Cape Town girl reacted to charges being dropped against two of his fellow accused.

Members of the press and the police tactical task team, along with members of the public sitting in the gallery of the Wynberg magistrate's court, gasped at the unmistakable gesture during court proceedings on Tuesday.

The man who made the gesture is accused one, a muscular individual whose demeanour appears to reveal his position as the leader of the eight men who were charged with the Cape Town girl's kidnapping.

They allegedly kidnapped the girl in November last year and demanded a ransom from her family for her release.

None of the accused can be named as they face charges of kidnapping of a minor and child pornography after they allegedly made revealing videos of the girl and sent them to her family.

The victim may not be named.

The gesture appeared to have been prompted by the decision by the deputy director for public prosecutions to withdraw charges against accused numbers five and six.

The announcement by the prosecutor that the charges were dropped against the two men seemed to startle their co-accused.

Magistrate Goolam Bawa dismissed the two and allowed them to leave the court.

Both accused one and two turned their backs to Bawa and made eye contact with their supporters sitting in the gallery. Accused one turned his back to the gallery, folded his arms behind his back and curled his fingers to resemble two handguns.

His thumbs then made a repeated cocking motion for a few seconds.

This was done in full view of several heavily armed police members.

Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Philani Nkwalase said investigators were aware of allegations that the gesture had been made.

“We are aware of the developments in court with regards to the charges being dropped against two of the accused and the allegation made against one of the suspects. Should there be a need to look into it, that will be done by the investigators,” said Nkwalase.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said accused five and six gave alibis in relation to the matter.

“These were followed up by the investigation team over the course of the past two weeks and charges were withdrawn,” he said.

He said “investigations into the hand gestures will be up to the police”.

Sydney Tsotso, the attorney for accused one and other accused, told TimesLIVE he could not comment on the alleged incident as he was not present when it was alleged to have taken place.

The court appearance on Tuesday was for a ruling to be delivered on an application brought by the accused for the state to disclose evidence, including pornographic videos taken of the victim, recordings, and documents for the accused to prepare for a bail application.

Bawa dismissed the application, saying the accused wanted a preview of the docket before they brought their bail application.

He ruled that the accused failed to make a case for why they should be given a chance to view the recordings or any other evidence against them.

He pointed out that the accused acknowledged in their application that they were charged with a schedule six offence and that the onus was on them to prove exceptional circumstances as to why they should be granted bail.

Tsotso, who represents accused one, two, three and four, said he had not yet received instructions from his clients on whether to appeal the ruling.

The matter was postponed to March 7.

TimesLIVE