Magistrate Emmanuel Magampa felt that granting the former Bafana player bail would make a mockery of the justice system.
Though Magampa noted that the court is mindful that this is not a trial court, he said one of the factors to determine in a bail application is the strength of the state’s case against the accused.
The former player was arrested together with 10 other men, after a tip-off that they were planning to hijack and rob a truck transporting cigarettes.
He was found in possession of a signal jamming device.
Police later released seven other men, after they could not be linked to the case.
Magampa said the charge against the former player may not appear serious when considered in isolation.
“However, when taken in the context of the other, surrounding factors it calls for a more vigilant approach,” he stated.
He said there are factors which portray the former player as a person who has a propensity to commit offences, plus, he has not been able to convince the court otherwise.
The court noted that the former player has three cases pending, and that the likelihood is strong that he might commit another crime if released on bail.
He also has two former convictions against his name, one in 1986 and the other in 2004.
He has an attempted murder case pending in Brits, where he was released on R1 000 bail and, while he was out on bail and with that matter still hanging over his head, he was arrested in Ogies for armed robbery, where he was also found in possession of a signal jamming device.
He was then released on R15 000 bail.
Making his ruling, Magampa said the court is mindful of the presumption of innocence, but it cannot be argued that a person can accumulate as many pending cases as possible and, on each occasion, claim an automatic right to be released on bail, for as long as he has not been convicted of any of the pending cases.
His bail application was dismissed.
State opposes bail in ex-Bafana player case
Ex-Bafana player among the thugs arrested by EMPD
