‘Fruitless exercise’: Musa Khawula abandons bail application

Gossip blogger Musa Khawula has abandoned his bail application.

Khawula is charged with contravention of Section 19 of the Cyber Crimes Act 19 of 2020, hate speech and crimen injuria after allegedly posting defamatory comments about public figures, including businessman Ze Nxumalo, on his X page.

His defence lawyer told the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday that applying for bail in this matter would be futile because he still had to apply for bail in another matter in the Forchville Magistrate’s Court.

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“I have consulted with the accused; there have been certain developments from the last sitting where the accused was charged for another matter in the Carletonville court where he is appearing.

“After consulting extensively with the accused, we have decided to abandon the bail application. We will not be proceeding with the bail application anymore. I’m not quite sure how far the investigations are with regard to this matter.

“We would like that, if possible, if all investigations have been completed, this closure be given to us so that we can prepare for trial.

“For us to proceed with a bail application while there is another matter pending that other side will honestly be a futile exercise for us to attend a bail application.”

‘Trialled by ambush’

The state also revealed on Wednesday that it had added a second charge against Khawula. Investigations on the second charge are still ongoing.

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“We are not aware of a second charge, Your Worship. This is now coming as a surprise to us. It seems like we’re being ambushed. We cannot have a situation where the accused is being trialled by ambush.

“We were never made aware of any secondary charge that the accused is facing,” said Khawula’s defence lawyer.

The matter was postponed to 18 February for further investigations.

Khawula is expected to appear in the Forchville Magistrate’s Court on 5 February 2025 for a bail application.

ALSO READ: Musa Khawula’s attempted murder and reckless driving case postponed to early February

In this matter, he has been charged with attempted murder, reckless driving and failing to render assistance and/or report an accident to the police.