No bail for four men accused of taxi slayings

THREE Mthatha taxi drivers and a taxi owner on trial for murder and attempted murder were denied bail by the Libode Magistrate’s Court.

The murder was committed on March 9 and the attempted murder on January 24. Both are related to taxi violence in the province.

Magistrate Nwabisa Jumba on Friday dismissed the bail application by taxi owner Musa Kwakusa Mzulwana and his coaccused, drivers Linda Nazo, Samkelo Mlamleli and Anele Ntampula, as the interest of justice did not permit their release on bail.

Nazo faces another count of murder and three of attempted murder in the Mthatha High Court and Ntampula has another charge to answer – unlawful possession of firearm – in the Ngqeleni Magistrate’s Court.

“The accused are some of the people who turned the R61 and N2 roads and Mthatha into a battlefield, with 60 people killed and scores injured,” said Jumba. “I am mindful of the seriousness of the crimes the applicants face, the weight of the cases against them and the chances of them evading police successfully.”

Jumba said there was also a possibility that if released on bail they could interrupt public order and also intimidate witnesses.

The magistrate said: “It is probable that they will commit another offence if admitted on bail as firearms they allegedly used have not been recovered from the people they mentioned they gave them to.”

Defence lawyer Odwa Ndamase has argued his clients were coerced into confessing. The case was postponed to June 29.

● In a related case, the Libode Magistrate’s Court will today hear the bail application of four more men accused of being behind taxirelated bloodshed.

Kholwana Ntanjana, 28, Vuyo Mahlombe, 28, Mncedi Fasi, 30, and Monelisi Fasi, 45, are charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition as well as possession of stolen property. They also have a pending case of three counts of murder and five of attempted murder in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court.

Police believe their arrest near Mthatha on March 26 was a major breakthrough in cracking the ongoing taxi violence.

In the same court today, four others accused in connection with the taxi violence will appear for attempted murder and malicious damage to property. —