Four murder accused get bail

Lebogang Mosikare | Friday June 27, 2014 17:19

 

When granting bail, Siziba told Mompati and Jobe to report at Serowe and Metsimotlhabe police stations respectively every Tuesday. The two were ordered to pay 1,000 each as surety.

The magistrate gave Charles and Seleka the same bail conditions and told them to report to Kutlwano police station every Tuesday.

Earlier, the four accused had pleaded with the magistrate not to order them to provide non-cash sureties.  They told the magistrate that they are the ones taking care of their respective relatives who are not working. The magistrate acceded to their application.  Prosecutor Alexander Phale had initially applied that the accused should not be given bail because investigations are still ongoing.

He said the instrument used to stab the deceased on the chest had still not been recovered.

During their previous appearance in court, Siziba told the prosecution that he was not pleased with the reasons they had advanced to oppose bail. Phale had stated that he feared that the accused may interfere with witnesses if granted bail. Siziba ended up remanding the accused telling the prosecution to speed up their investigations. Yesterday, he said keeping the accused in custody before police carried out their investigations was tantamount to denying them justice because they should be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent court.