Bail application of Babita Deokaran accused held up for verification of nationality

The bail application of the six men accused of killing Babita Deokaran has been postponed to December 9.

Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Radebe, Phinda Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphiwe Mazibuko and Siphakanyiswa Dladla were arrested for killing Deokaran outside her home in the south of Johannesburg in August.

She had been instrumental in blowing the whistle on alleged corruption regarding the Gauteng health department’s procurement of Covid-19 personal protective equipment.

On Tuesday, the state and defence concluded their arguments for bail application, however, magistrate Simon Sibanyoni asked the state to verify the nationality of Ndlovu because there were doubts he was a South African citizen.

State prosecutor Steve Rubin previously told the court that Ndlovu initially told the investigating officer that he was Zimbabwean. He has, however, made a U-turn on this claim. His legal representative, Peter Wilkins, told the court that he was born in KwaZulu-Natal.

The magistrate maintained that he would need home affairs to confirm Ndlovu’s nationality and legal status to satisfy the court.

“The court needs to be satisfied with the nationality of applicant 3 [Ndlovu] and will invoke provisions to call witnesses. Home affairs must come and put this issue to rest,” Sibanyoni said.

The court heard that Ndlovu previously skipped bail and the state said his explanations on his inability to adhere to bail conditions inspired no confidence. The state told the court that bail should be denied to all of the accused, citing that they failed to show the presence of exceptional circumstances.

“The arguments they brought are neither here nor there. Things like poor prison conditions or inability to consult are not exceptional circumstances because it applies to everyone who is in custody,” Rubin told the court.

The defence told the court that the state’s case was weak and relied heavily on the alleged confessions that the accused made under duress.

“The investigating team was concerned with obtaining confessions with undue influence. They have not given any other evidence,” Wilkins told the court.

Rubin, however, maintained that the state was satisfied that there was a prima facie case and that some of the issues raised by the accused were irrelevant and what mattered was the credibility of the witnesses.

Rubin said the police denied assaulting any of the accused.

As the accused went to holding cells, family members told them to be strong.

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