The suspects, Andrew Hlabangane and others allegedly robbed First National Bank (FNB) in South Africa and made away with about P1 million in cash in 2005. The suspect was arrested in Francistown last year for possession of firearms after he allegedly ran away from the trial, which had been scheduled for May in South Africa.
It is said Hhabangane used a skeleton key to escape from South African cells. Senior magistrate, Pride Rusike said on Friday that though it was in the interest of justice that the matter be dealt with quickly, it was also in the interest of justice that the defence be given enough time to prepare. This is despite the earlier objections by the state that they had given the defence sufficient time to find an expert and the trial should not be postponed. The defence attorney, Thsekiso Tshekiso told the magistrate that they had some challenges in seeking the services of an expert since April. He said the expert they had thought could assist them had told them that he only specialised in general forensic testing like DNA and not finger-prints. Tshekiso had asked for a postponement hoping to try their luck in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The defence has asked to be allowed to bring in an expert after the state produced two identical finger-prints as evidence. The state said that the accused person's finger-prints captured during the offence in Botswana, were identical to the ones taken in South Africa though the names varied. The state said Hlabangane was using different names in different countries, as he was known as Surprise Phiri when he was arrested in Botswana. One South African witness, Fernando Lewis, who is a policeman confirmed that after they were told that the suspect was being detained in Francistown, they found that he was the man they were looking for. Lewis indicated that Surprise Phiri as he called himself in Botswana, and the figure-prints of Andrew Hlabangane were similar to that of a person they were looking for in South Africa. Besides the evidence of the finger-prints, Lewis had stated that there was a video-tape of the robbery. Tshekiso had accused the prosecutor of not forwarding the finger-prints in time.
