Sandra Munsamy kidnapping accused denied bail

Two of the four men arrested in connection with the high-profile kidnapping of Durban businesswoman Sandra Munsamy were denied bail on Monday.

The four accused appeared in the Durban magistrate's court where bail judgment was handed down to accused three and four.

The Hawks previously made an application to bar the media from identifying or photographing the accused due to the sensitive nature of the case.

TimesLIVE reported that accused one and three are South Africans, and accused two and four are Mozambicans. None have been named.

Accused one and two had previously abandoned their bail application.

Magistrate Anand Maharaj told the court that there was a high likelihood that accused three and four would evade trial should bail be granted.

He emphasised that both men were facing a schedule six offence in that they faced five counts relating to kidnapping, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and extortion.

“Mozambique seems to be a safe haven for them and more so in the absence of an extradition treaty. Both applicants have not shown exceptional circumstances that permit their release on bail.”

Maharaj remanded the matter to October 26 to allow the director of public prosecutions in the province to provide directives regarding a pretrial.

Former national director of public prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana, representing accused three, submitted that the court should make a request to Hawks investigators to use the postponement to finalise their investigations.

The state previously revealed that the only outstanding evidence in the case was cellphone records data which needed to be analysed from 23 devices seized during investigations.

TimesLIVE