Cape Town - The 41-year-old officer who allegedly shot and killed his colleague over the weekend is facing a charge of culpable homicide and was released on R1000 bail.
Marlon Apollis, now of the anti-gang unit (AGU), briefly appeared in the Franschhoek Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was not asked to
plead. The state informed the court that the matter was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine if more charges would be added.
Apollis is accused of fatally wounding his colleague, Sergeant David Hoffman, on Saturday night.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), which is probing the incident, the suspect allegedly shot his colleague in the head.
Ipid spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said: “It’s alleged that there was a braai at a private house attended by the deceased and the suspect. The two police officers were off duty.
“It’s alleged that during the proceedings the suspect pulled out his service firearm and shot dead his colleague. The deceased is alleged to have been shot in the head.”
According to the suspect, he was engaging the firearm’s safety mechanism when a shot went off.
He then pulled the trigger and nothing happened, but after the third time a shot went off hitting Hoffman in the head.
Prior to Apollis’s transfer to the AGU, his sterling investigations helped lead to the successful convictions of triple-axe murderer Henri van Breda, wife-killer Jason Rohde and the killers of Hannah Cornelius, whose body was found in May 2017 at Groenhof farm in Stellenbosch.
Community safety MEC Albert Fritz indicated that he would visit the family of the deceased after the provincial legislature sitting tomorrow. He added that this was a tragedy.
“It’s sad that Apollis, who solved three great cases, is accused of such a crime. It’s a real pity, but we must allow the law to take its course and wait for the outcome of the matter,” Fritz said.
Ronel Stander, from the Solidarity union representing a large group of police officers, said she spoke to the human resource office at the AGU, which said the two were inseparable and did everything together.
The matter was postponed to September 26 for the DPP to make a final decision on whether Apollis should face further charges.