The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has remanded Emanuel Neverdie Mkhabela in custody pending his next court appearance on Thursday, June 4, for official bail application.

Mkhabela appeared in this court today, Friday, May 29, after spending a night behind bars following his arrest on charges of murder yesterday, Thursday, May 28.

His co-accused, Jabulani Eckson Mkhonto (53), appeared in the same court yesterday and was also remanded in custody until May 4, also for bail application.

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Mkhonto and Mkhabela are officials in the Office of the Premier’s Integrity Management Unit (MIU) in Mpumalanga.

The suspects were arrested by the SAPS Tshwane District Organised Crime Investigation Unit following extensive investigations into the killing of a senior Mpumalanga government official.

The murdered government official, Mabidi Izzy Machaba (57), was the chief director in the IMU when he was attacked by gunmen while driving to Pretoria in September 2023.

His vehicle was hit by approximately 30 bullets. A laptop and documents containing sensitive investigation documents were allegedly stolen from his vehicle.

The attackers left Machaba severely wounded and apparently believed that he was dead.

He was, however, transported to a hospital. He was in a coma for about four months after which he regained consciousness and gave the police information about those he believed to have been involved in the shooting.
Machaba died of complications resulting from his wounds some time later.