Africa-Press – South-Africa. A police officer testifying in the alleged Mobsters’ trial in the Western Cape High took the stand on Wednesday, carrying a mystery item in a black garbage bag.
The court was supposed to have heard testimony from a person involved in a shooting near the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court, which the widow of the late Hampshire “Hempies” Brown testified about on Monday.
Wendy Brown told the court how she rammed into a car from where shots were being fired at her son Corne in 2019, determined to protect him.
He survived the attempted murder but was killed while DJing in Ceres in 2020.
The huge case involves several murders, attempted murders, and other pieces of a vast puzzle the State is putting together to prove all the accused worked together as a gang.
However, after some huddling by the defence and the prosecutor, the plan for the day was changed, and it was announced the witness was not at home when the police went to fetch them.
Instead, the trial moved on to the police officer, who testified about a break-in at his house in Bardale in 2016.
Almost all the witnesses cannot be named, and it was a rare occasion when Wendy permitted her name to be published.
On Wednesday, the police officer testified how he locked his house when he went on a course, and when he returned home, his neighbour said his house had been broken into.
He went inside through the now-unlocked front door and walked into a scene of chaos with things strewn about, and blank spaces where his TV, video player and laptop should have been.
Groceries were on his bed, and his clothes and shoes had also been stolen, and all the rooms had been ransacked.
The police arrived, and a list of stolen items was filled in.
A few days later, the investigating officer picked him up.
After a drive-around via a stop for the investigating officer to speak to someone in the holding cells at Mfuleni police station, then a drop-in to speak to someone at a house in Blackheath, some of his items were recovered.
He testified one of the men who came out of the house, while the police were following up on leads, was wearing an item that belonged to him.
He testified:
Ultimately, many of the items stolen were recovered from the house they stopped at in Blackheath, including a black leather satchel containing documents like his academic qualifications, which was found on a field behind the house.
However, one item was still sitting in the police’s evidence room, and due to their strict opening and closing hours, he had not been able to get there to fetch it.
It was brought to court and handed to him.
He was asked to show the court what he had in the black bag, and after some poking around, he triumphantly held up his stolen DVD player, complete with silver knobs all still intact.
“I think you must be the luckiest man to receive it after six years,” commented the judge.
“Hah! It’s in perfect condition,” she added.
However, the police might still need it as the trial continues, so it went back into the depths of the bag.
The trial was postponed to Thursday for cross-examination.
The alleged leader of the Mobsters gang, Elcardo Adams, and 13 others all deny any involvement in gangs or organised crime, or a rivalry with another gang, the Horribles.
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