Cape Town - In what seems to have been a well thought-out operation, it has been revealed in court that a Philippi man, who was the first to be charged with the kidnapping of city businessman Ismail Rajah, was arrested a month after the incident.
A source has confirmed that Lunto Ndika-Ndika, 27, who was arrested on April 11, helped police locate Rajah, who was rescued from a house in Khayelitsha last week.
Ndika-Ndika first appeared at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on April 12, a month after Rajah was abducted on March 9, and was charged with robbery with aggravated circumstances for taking Rajah’s cellphone and credit cards – while threatening the 69-year-old with a firearm.
He was also charged with kidnapping, as the State is accusing Ndika-Ndika of, “grabbing him (Rajah) from the street and forcing him into a motor vehicle, and driving him to an unknown location, where ransom money was demanded for his release”.
According to court documents, Ndika-Ndika is the fifth person accused of Rajah’s kidnapping, and will appear in court on July 14, while two of his co-accused will bring a formal bail application on July 11.
The four men, who first appeared in court last week, are facing the same charges, however, State advocate
Mervyn Menigo has said that these charges are likely to be amended by their next appearance.
Amosse Manyisa, Julio Langa, Elijah Silinga and Thamsanqa Mvinjelwa were scheduled to appear on July 8, but Magistrate Asanda Shasha moved the date forward due to limited availability of Legal Aid.
Yesterday, Mvinjelwa hired a new lawyer, Lawrence Guma, while Manyisa and Langa confirmed that they would be abandoning their bail application. Manyisa and Langa, both Mozambican nationals, also face charges of being in the country illegally.
During proceedings, the magistrate addressed applications by the media to film and take pictures of the accused, which was subsequently denied due to the nature of the case, an outstanding identity parade, and possible further arrests.
“This is a very serious matter, we have to be cautious when we are dealing with this matter. There is an issue which is more important, the issue of identity. These accused persons are still innocent until proven guilty by the court of law.
“Now, if their faces are going to be exposed on social media, that means that by so doing, the total evidence will be compromised,” Shasha said.
In his address to the court, advocate Menigo said: “As you are aware, Mr Rajah was kept in captivity for almost 111 days... At this point, there is sufficient evidence linking the accused to the crimes committed in this matter, as the court was possibly informed on the last occasion that they were arrested while at the premises where Rajah was being held.”
The charges against the four accused have yet to be formulated properly and are subject to further investigation, which would also determine the schedule of the offences.