‘Taxi hitmen’ bail hearing delayed
THE bail hearing for four men accused of being taxi industry hitmen in the O R Tambo region was postponed in the Mthatha Magistrate’s court yesterday.
Among the charges they face are four counts of murder and five of attempted murder.
The delay is for public prosecutor Sicelo Mbeleki to determine which schedule in the Criminal Procedure Act certain charges fall under.
The accused – Kholwana Ntanjana, Vuyo Mahlombe, Mncedi Fasi and Monelisi Fasi – are among six men arrested at Sibangweni village near Mthatha on March 26 by a provincial taxi violence task team.
Mbeleki argued that because the charges were seemingly premeditated they fell under schedule 6 – the most serious level, making bail unlikely – to which defence lawyer Sthembele Mgxaji argued that there was no basis without a written confirmation from the director of public prosecutions (DPP).
In a bizarre turn of events, magistrate Justice Mqhwishi told the court after a short adjournment that for personal reasons he would recuse himself from the matter.
However, after lunch Mqhwishi told the court that he would not be able to withdraw from the matter before giving a ruling on the schedule argument.
“This matter should have been determined at the accuseds’ first appearance [but] for some unknown reason it wasn’t, and that is why this matter was raised.
“The court has decided that the state must get a certificate from the DPP before the bail hearing can proceed,” said Mqhwishi.
The murder cases according to the charge sheet are relating to the November 15 2017 killing of Border Alliance Taxi Association’s (Bata) Corhana rank chairman Zandisile Vinindwa, the killing of Bata taxi owner Fezekile Smayile late last month and the killing of a Golden Egg taxi rank vehicle owner Lifa Nguse and his brother-in-law Unam last month.
Three of the five attempted murders were committed on November 15 and two last month.
The matter will resume on Monday. —