Mpumalanga High Court orders bail reconsideration
The bail appeal was brought before the High Court sitting in Middelburg on Monday morning.
In a surprising turn of events, the acting High Court judge presiding over the case involving four men accused of brutally murdering two others has ordered a renewal of their bail application.
The bail appeal was brought before the High Court sitting in Middelburg on Monday morning.
The acting judge, Herman, said that the matter would be brought back to the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court and the bail applications start afresh.
The attorneys of Reinhardt Steyn, Chriswell Dumisani Masilela, and Dumisani Luthuli took the matter to the High Court last year after Magistrate Solomon Gololo denied the men bail.
Steyn, Masilela, Luthuli, and Stephan Wilson are accused of the premeditated murder, kidnapping, and assault of Thembeni Mnguni (29) and Wanda Mahlangu (21). They also allegedly set Mnguni’s car on fire.
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Wilson abstained from applying for bail because he is already serving a prison sentence for immigration violations.
The acting judge said during the initial bail application, the affidavits that were submitted in court were neither signed nor properly commissioned, failing to meet the requirements of section 60(11)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which mandates evidence of exceptional circumstances for bail.
The High Court identified procedural irregularities in the handling of these affidavits and said no evidence under oath was submitted, making it impossible to assess the merits of the application.
These findings led the matter to be referred back to the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court for fresh bail applications.
A date for the new bail applications has not been made yet, however, the matter was previously postponed to February 24 for further investigations due to outstanding DNA results.
Defense attorney Katlego Dolamo, representing Masilela and Luthuli, was approached for comment about the judge’s decision, but he declined to comment on the matter.
