Bail application of Sassa employees, others accused of theft moved to April

The bail application of seven South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) employees and three others was postponed until April 1 after the state and the defence attorneys indicated they were not ready.

The 10 entered the Lenasia magistrate's courtroom wearing masks and hats, hiding their faces from the court and the press.

They were instructed to remove the masks by magistrate Maggie van der Merwe.

“Facial expressions, eye contact, all of this, is an invaluable tool to evaluate the case,” Van der Merwe said.

Siphesihle Dlamini, 30, Phiwe Mkhuzangwe, 37, Paul Bowes, 49, Keanogetswe Ledwaba, 49, and Phumelele Myeza, 37, were arrested at the weekend and made their first court appearance on Monday.

The arrests of the five followed an earlier case involving four other accused, Shumani Khwerana, Nkhensani Maluleke, Tshilidzi Ramaphosa and Abenezer Tilahyn, who were arrested on February 6. Police were called to a Soweto store, where Khwerana and Maluleke were allegedly caught withdrawing large sums of money using Sassa cards.

The nine were joined by the 10th accused Paul Bandi Myambo on Tuesday.

Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi said there were seven of its employees among those who were appearing in court.

“There is one accused who is still at large but we think very soon the police will definitely arrest her, the 11th accused who is still on the run is a Sassa employee.

“We have not stopped because these individuals or staff members have been arrested, the net is widening, we are not going to stop here,” Letsatsi said.

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