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Dobsonville heist case: Magistrate furious after lawyers fail to attend court

Lawyers representing four Dobsonville cash-in-transit heist accused, including former Luthuli House employee Errol Velile Present, have raised the ire of a Roodepoort magistrate after they failed to attend proceedings.

"If they do not appear, the court must report them to the law society and action must take place," Magistrate Delize Smith said.

Present and co-accused Itumeleng Manama, 40, Bheki Biyela, 38, and Zakhele Zondi, 37 briefly appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

"Where is your attorney?" Smith asked Present, after noticing that the legal representatives were not there.

"I don't know," he responded.

The lawyers representing Manama, Biyela and Zondi were also absent and failed to inform the prosecutor or the court that they would not be available.

The magistrate was unimpressed and the case was postponed to December 6.

ALSO READ: Former ANC employee accused of heist free for now after he is released on bail

Present and his co-accused were arrested in July in connection with the Dobsonville cash heist and face charges of armed robbery, possession of a hijacked motor vehicle and attempted murder.

Each of the accused were released on R4 000 bail on September 17.

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