Bail hearing for Els accused postponed

THE ONGOING bail application of three accused linked to the attack on prominent Kimberley businessman, Piet Els, and his partner on his farm just outside Kimberley was yesterday postponed because Legal Aid lawyer, Kea Lerebolo, indicated to court that she was ill.

Lerebolo is representing two of the accused. The three men, Morapedi Rankali, Motlalentwe Qhautse and Thuso Ramolo, briefly appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of housebreaking, robbery and rape following the incident on January 24 2018.

Magistrate Pauline Coollen told the accused that the matter had already been postponed several times and needed to be finalised speedily.

“The matter cannot be finalised unless the bail applications of all three accused are heard. We are currently still handling the bail application of accused one. We need to hear all three matters individually and cannot summarise them all at once.

“The State prosecutor, however, also indicated that she will be on leave and will hand the matter over to another prosecutor. We will now postpone the matter in order for a new prosecutor to take over the case.”

The postponement will also afford the prosecutor to get the transcripts of the case,” said Coollen.

The matter was postponed to later this month.

Els and his partner were viciously attacked and tortured with steel rods and burnt with an iron in the early hours of January 24 by four men who forced their way into the bedroom of Els’ house.

The attackers took firearms, jewellery, cash and cellphones. They fled the scene in Els’ white Mercedes Benz, which was later found abandoned next to the R31 road to Barkly West.

Els is still in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Gariep Mediclinic while his partner has been discharged from hospital.