VEREENIGING. – A former Vereeniging SAPS Colonel has appeared in the Bellville Magistrates Court last week, facing multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
He is also accused of stealing weapons, which he allegedly sold to fuel gang wars in the Western Cape.
Natasha Prince, court reporter for Cape Argus, reports that former Vereeniging Police colonel Christiaan Lodewyk Prinsloo made his first appearance in a Cape Town court last week Wednesday, five months after he appeared in the Vereeniging Magistrates Court on similar charges.
The state will argue that Prinsloo (55), who was in control of the armoury in Germiston, had abused his position of authority and police supply chain resources to steal weapons from its storage facilities. He is also accused of involvement in the death of three people and the attempted killing of 12 others.
Prinsloo had been arrested on January 16 at his home in Vereeniging, but was released on R5 000 bail.
He resigned as a policeman shortly after his arrest. Prinsloo was re-arrested on July 6 and transferred to Cape Town to face 28 charges, including murder, attempted murder, theft, corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
The two matters have been “centralised” and will be heard in the Western Cape High Court later this year.
The offences relate to various incidents in Silverton, Germiston, Wynberg and Pretoria. According to a provisional charge sheet, the state will argue that Prinsloo and others “known or unknown to the state” had formed a criminal group and had acted in common purpose continuously to commit the offences.
The group’s function was to “steal firearms and ammunition destined for destruction” and supplying weapons to criminals – “primarily members of gangs on the Cape Flats” – where there was a continued demand “for illicitly obtained firearms and ammunition to further the gang wars that raged in the Western Cape from 2007 onwards.”
The state alleges Prinsloo had access and used the police’s specialised resources of the supply chain management to facilitate the offences and deliver the weaponry.
It is also alleged that on December 29, 2013 Prinsloo was involved in the killing of Gregory Isaacs in Belhar, as well as of Damien Juries of Delft on May 12, 2014 and Sipho Dyani of Delft on April 22, 2013. He also faces 12 counts of attempted murder.
During his bail application last week, Prinsloo’s lawyer, Adv Grant Smith, read out an affidavit about his client’s personal circumstances and also his promise to adhere to all conditions if granted bail. Prinsloo offered to hand over his passport to police.
Prinsloo, who is on chronic medication due to diabetes, is married and the father of two grown-up children.
He has not yet pleaded to any of the charges and would not divulge details regarding the circumstances or merits of the case in his affidavit. Magistrate Cyril Krautz granted Prinsloo bail of R20 000.
He will again appear in court on September 11.
