BAIL has been denied for Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni, 36, and Lindokuhle Ndimande, 29, who are among the five linked to the killing of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane on Florida Road in February 2023.

Gwabeni and Ndimande appeared at the Durban Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Vincent Hlatshwayo on Wednesday, January 15, and were remanded back into custody until February 7 for indictment. In his judgement, Hlatshwayo said he denied the applicants bail due to a lack of new evidence presented in their application.

“It’s an abuse of the process to allow an unsuccessful bail applicant to repeat the same bail application on the same set of works week in week after. I now have to make a decision on whether or not the facts presented before me amounts to new facts and justify the release of the accused on bail,” said Hlatshwayo.

Also Read: Judgement reserved in the AKA and TIBZ murder bail application

In their bail application last week, Gwabeni and Ndimande had told the court, in an affidavit read by their lawyer Advocate Simphiwe Mlotshwa, of how their incarceration is affecting their families, mentally and financially, which was the basis of their new bid for freedom. In the dock, a relaxed looking Gwabeni, through his lawyer, told the court of how his children are owing school fees due to him not being able to financially provide for them while being away from his work in the mining and construction businesses.

He stated that his two wives were also struggling under the circumstances. Gwabeni added that his “junior wife” and child have had to receive therapy and counselling due to trauma caused by his arrest. His co-applicant, Ndimande, looked restless in the dock as their lawyer informed the court that his taxi business is no longer generating income while he remains behind bars at Westville Prison. Ndimande said his minibus taxi was no longer operating due to it needing repairs following an accident.

According to the affidavit, Ndimande earned an income of R20 000 a month through his taxi which he allegedly also used to support his family and his late father’s wives. He is also a shareholder of a poultry farm that generates R70 000 a month. Ndimande’s alleged loss of income through his stationary and damaged taxi was questioned by the State and Magistrate Hlatshwayo who queried why the vehicle has been abandoned, in turn affecting his family’s financial standing.

Also Read: AKA murder suspect says State is ‘skating on thin ice’

The matter once again came up in judgement as Hlatshwayo said, “The financial prejudice on applicant two is self-created by him allowing a valuable asset to rot up and does not amount to new facts. This is not new evidence and should not be entertained.”

In terms of interfering with witnesses, the court said it was known that applicant one (Gwabeni) may have interfered with witnesses known to him. “The court found that applicant one will not hesitate to interfere with witnesses that implicate him as he had already done so in that case. It is the finding of this court that this likelihood is still there, we are still dealing with the same person. There is no evidence indicating that applicant two will act differently,” said Hlatshwayo.

When Gwabeni and Ndimande next appear in court they will be joined in the dock by the other three accused on February 7.

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