Bozwana murder case set for high court

THE case against four men accused of killing ANC businessman Wandile Bozwana execution-style in 2015 has been transferred to the high court.

The group appeared in the Pretoria Prison Court in Kgosi Mampuru II prison yesterday where magistrate Bheki Ntshingila transferred the case to the North Gauteng High Court.

Sipho Hudla, Matamela Motapa, Paul Khuma and Vusi Mathibela stand accused of killing Bozwana in October 2015.

He succumbed to injuries he sustained from a hail of bullets.

Bozwana was travelling with a female companion when they were ambushed after their car had stopped at a traffic light on the Garsfontein offramp on the N1 highway.

Hudla, Motapa and Khuma were denied bail, while Mathibela – who is accused of planning the murder – is out on R50000 bail that was granted in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He appeared via video link from the prison.

Mathibela was arrested last year in connection with the 2015 hit on Bozwana. The bail conditions state that he has to surrender the title deed to his home in Midrand and passport, report to the Midrand police station every Friday between 6am and 6pm and that he does not leave Gauteng without informing the investigating officer.

His initial bail application was turned down. At the time the state had submitted that he had several pending matters of a violent nature. He also did not present immovable assets at the time which made him a flight risk. He made a second application based on new facts, leading the court to review its previous findings.

Magistrate Mogawambal Naidoo found that Mathibela was now forthcoming with his personal circumstances. He had a business that continued to operate after his arrest. The pending cases have since fallen off. He has since pledged immovable property [his house] worth R4.2-million.

Naidoo said Mathibela had a business account that had been operational for years and was economically viable.

Some of the accused were arrested a month after the incident and others in July last year. Hudla and Motapa earlier told the court that they were taxi owners with five children each.