Popcru assassination case: Witness intimidation allegations emerge

Allegations of witness intimidation have surfaced in the bail application of three men accused of hatching a plot to assassinate senior members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru).

Testifying in the bail application in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Friday, Hawks detective sergeant, Norton Ndabambi, said the suspected middleman in the alleged assassination plot, Neo Letele, used his own mother to intimidate a key witness.

Letele shares the dock with Popcru CEO Zwelinkosi Reuben Mdletshe and Robert Sheriff. It is alleged that Mdletshe and Sheriff instructed Letele to source the assassin, who would be paid R1m for the job.

According to Ndabambi’s testimony on Friday, the witness claimed that he received a threatening phone call from Letele’s mother.

“I interviewed the witness and he said he knew Letele.

“Later, Letele tried to intimidate him through his mother. The witness said he received a call from Letele’s mother who questioned him regarding the case and told him that her son was not involved in the matter. The witness then made a recording of the conversation,” Ndabambi testified.

The court heard that Letele’s mother was concerned about her son’s detention.

“The mother was interfering with the case by posing questions to the witness,” Ndabambi said.

The court also heard that Mdletshe employed Letele as an IT expert at Popcru Investment Group of Companies.

The detective was unable to verify the authenticity of Letele’s passport because he was only provided with copies of it.

Ndabambi started investigating the case on October 15 after the matter was delegated to the Hawks by the SA Police Service management.

The bail hearing continues.

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