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

Mpumalanga News reports that Mkhabela appeared in court on Friday (May 29) after spending a night behind bars following his arrest on Thursday (May 28) on charges of attempted murder.

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

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

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

The killing

The 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 about 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 he was dead.

He was, however, transported to hospital. He was in a coma for about four months, after which he regained consciousness and gave police information about those he believed were involved in the shooting.

Machaba died of complications resulting from his wounds some time later.

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