Residents of Nomzamo Park protesting outside the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court where one of the accused in the Nomzamo tavern shooting was to appearing for bail hearing, 20 February 2023. Picture by: Sibongumezi Sibiya/The Citizen
One of the men accused of the Nomzamo tavern massacre in Soweto was granted bail of R35 000 by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Magistrate AW Morton found there was no evidence before the court to prevent him from granting the accused bail.
The accused, who is a former Hawks branch official, was, however, not in court when his bail was granted as he was in hospital.
Last week, it was revealed in court he had an abscess in a tooth and he suffered a minor stroke while in prison.
State witness Zwelibanzi Nzimande, whose son was killed during the shooting, was called to the stand to represent families who lost their family members.
Nzimande said what he could tell the court without fear or favour was that if the court granted bail to the accused, the community would take the law into their own hands.
“Tears went down when forensic pathology vans came to pick up our children’s bodies. If the magistrate was there to witness what we saw on that day, I don’t think he would entertain bail,” he said.
“If the court thinks otherwise, we will take the law into our own hands. We will use our hands to kill them the way they killed our children.”
Morton sent his condolences to Nzimande for losing his son, but said the court should not only focus on the feelings of the community, but the merits of the case.
“The court sends its condolences to the families. It remains the court’s duty to look at the merits of the bail. The court should not only look at the feelings of the people.
The court has a duty to enforce the law and order,” Morton said. The lawyer for accused three, JP Venter, told Nzimande he was sorry for what happened to his son and that no father should go through what he went through.
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Venter, however, said the state failed to link his client to the murders and he was the one who helped with the arrests of accused one and accused two.
“There is no evidence linking him to the shooting at this stage, my client maintained his innocents right from the beginning,” Venter said.
During his bail application, the accused maintained he did not understand why he had been arrested as he was the one who was trying to assist the police arrest those involved in the killing.
Investigating officer Colonel Friccah Masilela said although it was true accused three undertook to help the police, he gave misleading advice, derailing the investigations.
“It is evident the applicant has intimate knowledge of working of the groups and is closely involved in the business,” Masilela said.
Venter said his client had been vindicated, especially with the fact that his client was trying to assist the police.
“If he was lying, why are accused one and two still in the dock because he was the one who brought them to the police? He played open cards from the beginning and he said he was trying to assist the police,” he said.
“The court found it was not his fault that the other people did not want to cooperate and hand themselves over to face prison in South Africa especially because they face life imprisonment.” Venter said his client would continue to assist the police.
The six men are facing 19 murder charges and one charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances. The three other murders were committed before the Nomzamo massacre.
The matter has been postponed to 12 June and will be back at the Orlando Magistrate’s Court in Soweto.
READ MORE: Nomzamo tavern massacre case postponed after petrol bomb threats
– lungam@citizen.co.za
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