IN CRIME RIDDLED SA- NOT EVEN THE HIGH COURT IS SAFE FROM HUMAN TRASH GANGS

Twelve bogus policemen overpowered Johannesburg High Court guards last night and made off with a safe and documents relating to several high-profile cases.

Among these cases was that of one of South Africa's biggest robberies involving R60-million stolen from FNB in a brazen attack two years ago.
The case was set down on the roll to be heard on Monday.

The gangsters, who brought a woman with them, hoodwinked the first guards they encountered, by telling them a security guard had raped her. They demanded that all the guards be brought to them.

They then overpowered them and barged into the building.

Shortly after they left the building there was a brief shootout with police, but the gangsters escaped.

This morning, the FNB robbery case was postponed to May 5 to deal with an interlocutory application, with trial set to continue in August.

Judge Nico Coetzee said: "If anybody starts looking for the file, it's in my office. I think its safer than down there in the dungeon where the
registrar's office is."

Meanwhile, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Tlali Tlali said: "We can confirm that an incident took place at the high court last
night, some time close to midnight. Some security guards were overpowered by a group of individuals who were unknown to them - we cannot say how many were involved."

Tlali said the robbers appeared to know their way around the building and broke into the office of a senior state prosecutor and "removed a number of documents".

Director of Public Prosecutions Charin de Beer, who also declined to name the prosecutor concerned or give details on what had been taken, said: "We cannot say very much at this stage. We have made contact with the police who came out to the scene and are investigating."

But, she added, the office of the senior advocate that was robbed was handling "some high profile organised crime cases" and that statements from at least two cases were missing.

It is understood that documents relating to a high profile multi-million rand robbery that took place at the FNB depot in February 2006.

The case in question was set down on the roll to be heard in Court 4C on Monday morning.

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South Africa! Land of the Big Five:
Murder,
Rape,
Robbery,
Hijacking,
Theft