Case against five arrested for truck attacks postponed as three claim assault by police

The case against five men linked to the recent spate of truck attacks in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal has been postponed to next week amid claims some of the accused were assaulted by police.

Five people have been arrested so far after the torching of at least 21 trucks in the three provinces in the past week.

The first three were arrested on Thursday and the two others on Sunday  in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Nelson Shongwe, Sibusiso Mthethwa, Fundile Mpondo, Mafika Sibane and Nkosingiphile Gumede appeared in the Ermelo magistrate's court.

The accused requested a postponement for numerous reasons.

“The instructions from accused [two and four] that I'm receiving are that during their arrest they were assaulted by police and they request they be attended to and taken to see healthcare practitioners,” their legal representative said.

“Accused one and two are correcting the issue of their attorney. They are confirming they are being represented by [an attorney from] Mabaso Attorneys, meaning all five are being represented by the same practitioner.”

The court heard accused number three had visible injuries on his hands while two and four had none. These were the three accused that made the assault claims.

The matter was postponed to next week Thursday for the accused to receive medical attention.

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