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The mother of twin brothers, Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie (23) who were accused of terrorism, started crying in court today when she heard they would be staying behind bars for another week.
The case against the brothers was postponed in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court until next Monday for their bail application.
As the mother left the court room, two women comforted her, while two men quickly ushered her out of court, protecting her from media attention.
The twins are charged with contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.
Prosecutor Chris MacAdam told Magistrate Pieter du Plessis that the delay was due to the fact that the two had new lawyers.
The brothers, who sat closely together, each wore a fez and occasionally smiled at their relatives sitting in the first row of the public gallery.
A woman, believed to be their sister, blew kisses at the brothers. They winked back.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Louw told journalists outside the court that they would oppose bail because the twins faced serious charges.
Louw said more charges could be added, or arrests made, during the course of the police investigation into the matter.
“We don’t know. We don’t want to pre-empt the conclusions of the investigations.”
The brothers were allegedly linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group and were allegedly planning to set off explosives at a US embassy and “Jewish institutions” in South Africa, according to their charge sheet.
They were arrested on Saturday July 9, along with siblings Ebrahim and Fatima Patel, when their homes were raided in Newclare and Azadville.
Louw did point out that, at this stage, the two cases are not related.
The Patels previously appeared in the Kagiso Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of explosives and unlicensed ammunition after a stun grenade and 20 rounds of live ammunition were found in their home.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told News24 that the arrests followed prolonged investigations into possible terror-related activities in the Johannesburg area.
He said the four were identified after they tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS in 2015. — News24
