/ 18 July 2006

Five airport-heist accused granted bail

Five people accused of the Johannesburg International airport heist were granted bail of between R20 000 and R50 000 by a Kempton Park Regional Court magistrate on Tuesday.

Shaheed Rudolf (43) of Eersterus, Rushdee Rudolf (42) of Cape Town and Christopher Billings were granted bail of R50 000 each.

Tebogo Nhlapho and Fox Sithole (31) of Vosloorus were released on R10 000 and R20 000 bail respectively.

The sixth accused, 37-year-old Namibian national Uakotokia Tjinkinda, was refused bail on the basis that he was a flight risk.

Investigating officer Detective Inspector Peter Mbonani said that the matter was postponed to October 12 for trial.

The six were allegedly part of a gang which boarded a South African Airways plane in March and made off with R72-million in foreign currency. — Sapa