Chief justice break-in suspect appears

Haggard, wearing tan slacks and an informal black jacket zipped to his neck while clutching a towel, Nkosinathi Msimango appeared before Randburg magistrate Theosophy Leshaba on Monday on a charge of housebreaking at the Office of the Chief Justice and theft of 15 computers.

Msimango handed himself over to police on Friday following an appeal last week by acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Kgomotso Phahlane.

He is the fourth person to be arrested and the first to appear in court on the specific break-in.

Phahlane announced the arrests of Given Msimango and Bigboy Yose on several charges, including possession of an unlicensed firearm, however, they have yet to be charged with the theft at the office of the chief justice.

Prosecutor Linda Dlamini’s request for a seven-day postponement for further investigation so detectives could verify Msimango’s address was met with strenuous objections from his defence, advocate Marchand Kilian.

He noted Msimang had been received “by 20 detectives” whom he had handed himself over to, and they had had the whole weekend in which to verify Msimango’s address.

Kilian also complained Msimango had been booked out of the cells and taken to Nasrec, where Msimango “had been slapped around and interrogated”, and alleged Msimango had been brought to court in chains.

He also stated Msimango had been taken by detectives to two addresses, one where his mother lived and the other where he lived with his fiancé and newborn child.

Detectives sat in court shaking their heads and appeared puzzled at this last bit of information.

Kilian said the police had no evidence and wanted to keep Msimango inside while they looked for some.

“He handed himself over after it was published in the media police were looking for him. He knows nothing about the matter,” Kilian said.

Dlamini said police also wanted to establish the value of the computers, which Kilian also scoffed at, saying they had had since March 22, the date of the breaking, to do so.

In the end, Lashaba gave Dlamini her remand, however, only until Friday, when Msimango must reappear again.

Msimango remains in custody.

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