Investigating officer says Brown Mogotsi's apparent ability to easily change residences makes him "a flight risk".
Oupa Brown Mogotsi appears at Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on 28 May 2026. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
Political fixer Brown Mogotsi’s fourth attempt to secure bail at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court was overshadowed by allegations that he had planned to escape from the court cells while disguised as a correctional officer, the state alleged on Tuesday.
According to the investigating officer’s statement, read into the record by the prosecutor, police received information about the alleged escape plan on the morning of 20 August 2026.
“New information came to light on the 20th of August 2026 at 7.29 in the morning,” the officer said, adding that he had received a call from Colonel Masenya of the Johannesburg correctional services centre.
The colonel reportedly told him “that the plan is that he would disguise in the uniform of correctional officials and would walk out of the court cells.”
Surveillance and leg irons
Following the tip-off, the officer said arrangements were made to monitor the court on Tuesday. When Mogotsi appeared later that day, additional security measures were visible. “I noticed that his ankle was cuffed with leg irons around his feet,” the officer said.
He added that police officers who had escorted Mogotsi from the correctional centre to court had received the same warning from Colonel Masenya.
The officer said the alleged plot was also reported up the chain of command at the correctional facility.
He said the incident was flagged to Ms Kheswa, described as the head of the Johannesburg Correctional Centre, who ordered precautions.
“Ms Kheswa gave instructions that Brown Mogotsi be offloaded from the truck that was about to transport him to court,” the officer said, adding that she “further instructed that leg irons be placed around his ankle to minimise an escape.”
A full written report on the alleged plot from Colonel Masenya had not yet reached the investigating officer by Tuesday’s hearing.
Fresh bail bid rests on new address
Mogotsi, who has been in custody since his arrest in May, faces charges including perjury, defeating the ends of justice and unlawful possession of a firearm, stemming from allegations that he staged an attempt on his own life the previous year.
His defence used Tuesday’s hearing to argue that circumstances had changed since his earlier bail applications, which the magistrates’ court rejected twice and the High Court once on appeal, each time over concerns about unverifiable home addresses.
In an affidavit read out by his lawyer, Advocate Nthabiseng Mohomane, Mogotsi said he had since discovered that the person who signed the lease for his previous address was not the property’s lawful owner.
“As a result, my wife and family have experienced insecurity and uncertainty regarding our living arrangements,” the affidavit stated, adding that his wife, Dorothy Lekhoaba, had since secured a new, verifiable address.
“In light of the above, I submit that the change in my residential circumstances and the security of a new legitimate address constitute new facts relevant to the reconsideration of my bail application,” Mogotsi said.
He also asked that the new address be kept out of the public record to protect his family’s safety.
State casts doubt on new facts
The state opposed the application, with the investigating officer disputing the significance of the new address.
In his statement, he confirmed the properties existed but said neither was registered to Lekhoaba or to a family member, Dipuo Tshabane.
“I am of the view that the applicant never resided [at] the address in Johannesburg as the address was only occupied by Dipuo Tshabane on the 5th of May 2026, ten days before his arrest on the 15th of May 2026,” the IO said.
He argued this undermined the defence’s case, saying, “The applicant has shifted the goalpost by completely changing the addresses”.
The IO added that Mogotsi’s apparent ability to change residences easily made him “a flight risk.”
The officer also referenced a separate intimidation complaint involving a neighbour, which prosecutors had declined to pursue.
While he confirmed the case was dropped, he said the episode still pointed to Mogotsi’s reach.
“This indicates that the applicant is capable and has the means to contact witnesses directly or indirectly,” he said.
Case postponed for report
With Colonel Masenya’s full report still outstanding, the prosecutor asked for a week’s postponement, a request Mohomane did not oppose but said she wanted finalised.
“At this juncture we do not have an objection to the matter being remanded, but can the court make the date that follows final for purposes of that report,” she said.
The magistrate agreed, ruling that “the case is postponed to the 1st of September for further proceedings”.
