One of the men accused of carrying out a fatal armed robbery at the Windhoek head office of the state-owned company Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) in January plans to apply to be granted bail.
This was said by defence lawyer Dawn Marondedze, who is representing former Namdia security officer Joel Angula, during an appearance by Angula and a co-accused, Sam Shololo, in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Marondedze informed magistrate Linus Samunzala that while Angula (45) would not be applying to be granted bail at this stage, he would approach the court with a formal bail application “in the near future”.
Shololo (49), who is not represented by a defence lawyer currently, informed the magistrate he has applied for state-funded legal aid and would need more time to sort out his legal representation.
Angula and Shololo are charged with counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of rough or uncut diamonds and attempted murder in connection with a robbery committed at the Namdia head office on 18 January.
A senior protection officer of the company, Francis Eiseb (58), died when he was shot during the heist.
One of the alleged robbers, Max Endjala, also died at the crime scene.
The police announced at the time that he had died of a self-inflicted gunshot injury. In the charges faced by Angula and Shololo, the state is alleging that diamonds worth about N$349.3 million were stolen during the robbery.
Namdia spokesperson Beverley Coussement, however, said in a media statement in March that diamonds valued at N$314.9 million were stolen during the robbery, and that diamonds worth N$40.6 million have been recovered since then.
Angula has remained in custody since making his first court appearance on the charges on 21 January.
Shololo, who was injured during the incident, made his first appearance in court on 28 January, and has also been held in custody since then.
Public prosecutor Rowan van Wyk told the magistrate on Friday that the state is still waiting for a report on the valuation of items recovered after the heist.
On a request from Van Wyk, Samunzala postponed the case to 4 August, for further investigations to be carried out in the meantime and to await the outcome of Shololo’s application for legal aid.
Samunzala ordered that Angula and Shololo should stay in custody. Angula also made an appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on Thursday.
In that matter, he is charged with counts of theft of diamonds, possession of unpolished diamonds and disguising the unlawful origin of property, which is an offence in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The state is alleging in that case that Angula stole 13 parcels of diamonds, of which the weight and value are not stipulated, from Namdia on 18 January, and that he possessed 13 parcels of diamonds in the Khomasdal area of Windhoek on 19 January.
Angula is also being held in custody on those charges, with magistrate Wilka Amalwa having postponed that matter to 21 August.
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