Pretoria - The alleged henchmen of Mamelodi's alleged crime kingpin Vusi "Khekhe" Mathibela will wait until Friday to find out if they get bail following their bids at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Elias Skhosana and Stemmer Monageng appeared in court alongside their co-accused Mathibela on charges of allegedly intimidating and extorting money from Mamelodi business people for protection fees.
Mathibela was asked to be seated a few minutes after proceeding started since his counsel announced last week that he was temporarily abandoning his bail application.
He instead instructed his counsel to lodge an urgent high court application at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to challenge the legality of his arrest.
Skhosana and Monageng, who were arrested on March 8, submitted affidavits stating that the court did not need to keep them in police custody for justice to be served smoothly.
They both informed the court that they were willing to attach their properties as security for their bail to be granted should the court deem it necessary.
Defence lawyer Solomon Mkhabela said his client Skhosana’s release would not threaten his safety nor the safety of the community and it would therefore be unnecessary to keep him locked up any further.
He read his client’s affidavit confirming that Skhosana was denying all allegations against him and intended to plead not guilty on all the charges.
Monageng’s defence lawyer Mpesi Makhanya said his client was also not a danger to society and had a total of 46 employees between his businesses and he needed to be home to oversee operations.
Makhanya said his client was also the breadwinner in his family and was taking care of some of his youngest children, eight grandchildren and three of his unemployed siblings and an aunt.
He argued that his client should be released as he had no intentions to interfere with the police investigations.
The State will on Friday make is arguments against the bail of the accused before the court issues its verdict.