Two men accused of being part of a six-man gang which robbed three casinos in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, claimed police officers had assaulted them and forced them to confess to the crimes.

Thulani Hlatswayo, Malvern Ndlovu, Lumkani Dube, Bongani Lukhele, Philani Gumpu and Innocent Shabalala were facing eight counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances and two counts of attempted murder.

Among other crimes, they have been accused of carrying out robberies at Sibaya casino, near uMhlanga, Black Rock Casino in Newcastle and the Windmill Casino in Bloemfontein in 2010.

On trial before Durban Regional Court magistrate Sharon Marks, all have pleaded not guilty.

Police said during the men’s bail application in 2010 that there was video footage of all three casino robberies in which the men’s faces could be clearly seen.

On Thursday, advocate Fanie Slabbert, who was representing all six men, questioned police Captain Dumisani Hlongwa, who had taken a confession from Hlatswayo, about whether he had noticed that Hlatswayo had had injuries.

Hlongwa said he had recorded the injuries that he had seen. “The scars looked to be a few days old, not very recent.”

Slabbert said Hlatshwayo would testify that his ear had been cut and was bleeding when he saw Hlongwa.

Hlongwa denied that Hlatshwayo had been bleeding and said he had appeared “calm and collected”.

Police Captain Hendrik Delport was also questioned about why he had taken a confession from one of the men who had been in custody for more than 48 hours.

Delport said he had not asked the investigating team when the accused had been arrested.

“I was asked to take a confession and that’s what I did. I was not given any details of the case.”

All the accused said they had been assaulted and tortured by officers from the Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit and forced to make confessions.

Slabbert said the men would testify that they had been shown pictures of people reportedly killed by the unit and told that if they did not co-operate, they would also be killed.

The trial continues next week and the men were remanded. – The Mercury