Details of people falling over potato sacks, recklessly driven cars zig-zagging along roads in Honeydew and a hijacked taxi driver who found himself held hostage emerged in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday.

This as Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng recapped evidence from 17 of the 41 witnesses who had testified in the trial against the 13 Jeppe massacre accused.

The 12 men and a woman are facing charges relating to the June 2006 robbery at a Pick n' Pay supermarket in Honeydew, which culminated in a bloody shootout in Jeppestown. Four police officers and eight suspected robbers were killed that morning. Several others, including those who testified in the trial, were injured.

Having begun his judgment on Monday, Mokgoatlheng said the witnesses had been reliable and truthful. He however raised concerns about parts of evidence given by a Pick n' Pay employee.

"The rest of her [Sarah Marumole's] evidence regarding the cash box is accepted... but police who conducted the [identity] parade should have ensured that there were proper facilities," Mokgoatlheng told the court.

Among witnesses whose evidence was recounted in court on Tuesday was a shopper who had to hide his wallet in a pile of tomatoes after seeing a Pick n' Pay employee falling over a pile of potatoes and a man carrying a rifle. Kevin Choveaux had gone shopping at Pick n' Pay, not knowing that a robbery by an armed gang was in progress.

The lengthy judgment, which is expected to take the whole week, continues on Wednesday morning. All the accused have pleaded not guilty, with only one of them giving a plea explanation.

As they were led down to the holding cells, they waved to family and friends who had been sitting through the lengthy proceedings.

Sapa