PRETORIA - Notorious Mamelodi taxi boss Vusi "Khekhe" Mathibela is planning to bring an application to challenge the consitutionality of the section of the Criminal Procedure Act which allows courts to revoke the bail of defendants in their absence from court.
Mathibela, 33, is out on bail for the alleged murder of North West businessman Wandile Bozwane and attempted murder of his female companion, Mpho Baloyi, who were shot at a traffic light on the N1 Garsfontein off-ramp in 2015.
Mathibela, also known as Nyawane because he walks with a limp, briefly appeared at the Pretoria high court on Friday sporting a grey suit and white shirt.
He was arrested on a separate matter on March 13 on charges of extortion, intimidation and assault. He subsequently appeared in the lower court and is still in custody.
The State said that Mathibela was arrested while preparing to go on a holiday to Dubai despite his bail conditions preventing him from leaving the country.
In addition, the State has argued that Mathibela spent four days in Mauritius while out on bail for the murder of Bozwana.
His bail in the Bozwana case was provincially withdrawn on March 20.
The State sought to have his bail revoked on the grounds that Mathibela contravened his bail conditions by travelling outside the country when he was not supposed to.
His legal representative wants South African lawmakers to review the constitutionality of section 68(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act, No 51 of 1977 that was used to provisionally cancel his bail.
They plan to argue that the act contravened the rights of defendants by depriving them of the ability to challenge a decision where the bail is cancelled in their absence.
Should they succeed, Judge Bert Bam’s decision to revoke Mathibela’s bail will be rescinded.
Mathibela would then resume his bail application in the Pretoria Magistrate Court where he is charged with extortion and intimidation.
His co-accused in the extortion and intimidation case, Elias Skhosana and Stemer Monageng, were granted bail of R25,000 each in March. They convinced the court that their release would be in the interest of justice and that they had no interests to flee the country or to intimidate any state witness.
Mathibela decided to temporarily abandon his bail application before Skhosana and Monageng were granted bail. He sought to take the high court route and challenge the legality of his arrest but the court dismissed the application.
The matter was postponed to June 20.