A senior state advocate dropped a bombshell when he told the Durban Regional Court yesterday that confessions taken from an alleged casino robbery gang might have been obtained unlawfully.
Malvern Ndlovu, Lumkani Dube, Thulani Hlatswayo, Bongani Lukhele, Philani Gumpu and Innocent Shabalala are facing eight counts of robbery and two of attempted murder.
They are also accused of carrying out robberies at Sibaya Casino near Umhlanga, Black Rock Casino in Newcastle and the Windmill Casino in Bloemfontein in 2010.
After the revelations yesterday the case against the men hangs in the balance because the only other evidence the State has is cellphone evidence and video footage of some of the robberies.
However, defence advocate Fanie Slabbert will argue that all the evidence may be inadmissible if it was obtained based on information given in the confessions.
Prosecutor Yuri Gangai told magistrate Sharon Marks he had to withdraw the confession evidence.
The case had gone into a trial within a trial to test the veracity of the confessions as the gang alleged they had been assaulted by members of the now-defunct Durban Organised Crime Unit based in Cato Manor and forced to confess.
Gangai said his co-prosecutor, A Harrison, had been told by an investigating officer that Hlatshwayo could have been assaulted before his confession.
“My co-prosecutor and I met the investigating officer. While he did not confirm exactly what he had said initially, it led us to believe that there was some truth in the submissions by the defence that Hlatswayo had been shot behind his ear.
“The investigating officer… said he saw the injury and the blood and heard the gunshot.”
Gangai added that it was against his “ethics and moral sense” to lead any further evidence in the trial within a trial.
“I do not have confidence in the evidence and cannot confirm its veracity. State witnesses may have misled the court.”
Gangai abandoned the confessions as evidence, but said the office of the national director of public prosecutions had said the prosecution must proceed.
He said he had asked his superiors to remove him from the trial as he had “irreconcilable differences” with the investigating team. The case resumes tomorrow.
