5
disclosure, Govender accompanied other members of the field unit and a
few detectives to Mhlongo’s home at Hambanathi. Ramseroop was
present. Mhlongo was not at home. Instead they found his son Zamani,
who directed them to another residence. There they found Mhlongo and
the Hilux which, according to the testimony of Dorasamy Pillay, the
complainant in count 2, had been taken from him at gun-point. Mhlongo
was arrested and the Hilux seized. The State was able only to prove a
case of theft against the appellant as there was no evidence linking him to
the actual robbery of the Hilux.
[9]
On 21 February at 7 am, acting on further information from
Ramseroop, Govender again accompanied some officers and Ramseroop
to the latter’s residence. There, Ramseroop removed the hidden metal box
from the ceiling and handed it to them. This was the very box that had
been taken from the post office during the robbery. Ramseroop was
released later that day, after making a written statement to the police
concerning these events.
[10] To sum up, Ramseroop’s evidence implicated the appellant in the
thefts of the Hilux and Corolla. His evidence regarding the metal box
linked the appellant to the Maidstone post office robbery described
below. To the circumstances leading to the discovery of the Hilux and the
metal box, which assumed critical importance before us, I will return.
[11] The appellant denied involvement in any of the crimes. Regarding
the Hilux, the appellant testified that he had merely been helping
Mhlongo, who had since died, to facilitate a business deal with
Ramseroop for the repair of the vehicle. He asserted that Ramseroop had
falsely implicated him in the crimes because the police had tortured him.