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Heist suspect in St James terror attack By Judy Damon and Ashley SmithCape Town – One of the six men arrested after a R1,8-million cash-in-transit heist near Tokai on Tuesday had been released from jail in 1998 after receiving amnesty for the St James Church terror attack in 1993 that claimed 11 lives. He was a member of the PAC’s military wing, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla). On July 25, 1993, he was among three terrorists who rushed into the Kenilworth church and opened fire with AK47s, R5 assault rifles and lobbed grenades – packed with nails – into a congregation at prayer. While serving life sentences for 11 murders and 58 counts of attempted murder for the gruesome attack, the trio – Bassie Mkhumbuzi, Thobela Mlambisa, and Gcinikhaya Christopher Makoma – successfully applied to the Truth Commission for amnesty, which was granted in June 1998. Some of the victims and relatives of the deceased had opposed their amnesty applications. Police confirmed yesterday that one of the suspects arrested in Tuesday’s cash-in-transit heist in Cape Town had been granted amnesty for the St James massacre. On Tuesday morning traffic officer James Mayston was shot in the right arm by cash-in-transit robbers travelling in two bakkies which he and his colleagues unwittingly followed. The traffic officers were responding to an accident on the M3 freeway and were shot at by the fleeing robbers. The robbers made off with the R1,8-million during a military-style heist on a Standard Bank cash transportation van in Ottery. A trunk containing the cash was taken off the van. Police arrived within minutes and arrested three robbers when they stopped at a stop sign. Three more robbers were arrested in Ottery where police recovered the money in their bakkie. An AK-47 rifle, an R5 assault rifle, two 9mm handguns and several rounds of ammunition were confiscated. The latest incident follows the major political row surrounding the arrest and subsequent release of Dumisani Ncamazana, a former Apla cadre who was wrongly accused -- because of a prosecutor misreading a docket -- of murdering East London businessman Martin Whitaker. Ncamazana was pardoned of previous crimes by President Thabo Mbeki after being refused amnesty.
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