Missing document delays bail hearing

A MISSING charge sheet and an absent defence attorney delayed the formal bail application yesterday of a Bangladeshi man and a South African woman facing charges of fraud and corruption for allegedly orchestrating illegal marriages between South Africans and foreigners.

Bangladeshi national Abu Bokar, 35, and Nomabandla Mangezi, 43, who appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court, were arrested in February for allegedly arranging illegal marriages to enable foreigners to obtain South African identity documents.

When they arrived at court for their bail application last month, the pair were arrested again – this time by the Hawks.

Their bail application for that case will be heard today.

The matter heard yesterday was delayed after prosecutor Craig Fillis had to stand in for Melani Hammett and could not locate the charge sheet.

The matter was delayed further when Mangezi’s defence attorney, Litha Rwexana, was nowhere to be found after the lunch break. He showed up 30 minutes later.

It has emerged in court documents since the arrests that at least three women have reported to police that they were married off without their consent, including Bokar’s South African wife, Nompumelelo.

Reading a statement from immigration officer Ivan Claasen into the record, Fillis said Bokar had failed to fulfil the requirements for asylumseeker status as well as for a relative’s permit.

Official Home Affairs documents, including original marriage certificates and Bangladeshi police clearance forms, were allegedly found at Mangezi’s place of residence and at the salon where she worked, as well as at Bokar’s place of work, Fillis said.

The state is requesting that the pair be denied bail as, among other reasons, they pose a threat to witnesses and Bokar is a flight risk.

Magistrate Sanjani Naidoo postponed the case to today.