A captain and two lieutenants of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are among the 12 men who will spend New Year behind bars after being denied bail in the case involving the disappearance of 19 R4 assault rifles from a military base near Pretoria.
News24 reported that the 12 were charged with theft, breaking and entering and negligent loss of firearms. The three officers and 9 guards work at the Lyttelton Tek Base’s Engineering Formation HQ Unit from which the weapons disappeared.
They appeared before military judge E M Coetzer in an improvised courtroom at the disused Air Force Gymnasium in Swartkops on Friday evening.
The News24 report said that, after hearing arguments for more than four hours, Judge Coetzer ruled that the 12 must remain in custody for seven days to allow the investigating officer time to continue the investigation.
The report also said that contrary to earlier claims by the SA National Defence Union’s Pikkie Greef, the investigating officer told the court that none of the weapons have been recovered. ‘Sources in the military with knowledge of the case, however, said it was likely the rifles could not be used because they did not have closing locks on them.’