WATCH: One of the military veterans accused in hostage drama on parole for murder, court hears

Some of the 53 accused military veterans during court proceedings at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services in Tshwane. Picture: Ntombi Nkosi

Some of the 53 accused military veterans during court proceedings at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services in Tshwane. Picture: Ntombi Nkosi

Published Oct 19, 2021

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Johannesburg - One of the 53 military veterans accused of holding senior Cabinet officials hostage on October 14 is reportedly on parole for murder.

This emerged on day two of the court proceedings at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services where the accused military veterans are applying for bail.

The identity of the military vet was not immediately clear as he is yet to apply for bail.

The State said it was looking at 27 charges.

These were in addition to the initial kidnapping charge that related to the arrests made after Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, her deputy Thabang Makwetla and Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele were held against their will at the St George’s Hotel in Irene.

On Tuesday, the State indicated that the profiles of the accused persons had been submitted but the addresses of only 13 individuals with no pending convictions had been verified so far.

In her submissions, State Prosecutor Sanet Jacobson also delved into how the accused were associated with the incident.

"In terms of association and court participations, I can't inform the court in this state that accused number one was the one who shouted at the minister. The video needs to be analysed and for that the state needs time which it wasn't granted. So, at this stage, we can't say accused number one did this, accused number two did that. We are relying on a common purpose and say that everyone was actively involved," Jacobson said.

The court also heard that at least nine military veterans were facing a schedule five offence and would also apply for bail according to the charges they were facing.

The State is not opposing the bail application of the 13 accused facing schedule 1 offences.

Jacobson indicated the State was pushing for bail to ensure that those accused would appear in court.

She said the State asked that bail for the individuals be secured at R2 000 each.

But Advocate Dali Mpofu, who represented the majority of the military veterans, said the amount was too high.

"The amount must be fixed at R500 each," Mpofu said, adding that most of those accused persons were unemployed.

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Political Bureau

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