Bail application postponed for men charged with attempted murder of SARS prosecutor
|Published
The bail application of two Capetonian men charged with the attempted murder of South African Revenue Service (SARS) prosecutor, advocate Coreth Naude, had to be postponed on Friday due to the defence not being prepared.
Naude was allegedly shot in the face and neck by Siyanda Emmanual Mbulwana, 29, and Mcebisi Corlen Runeyi, 28, in July last year at the entrance of Premier Hotel in Umhlanga.
While driving there, she was ambushed by two armed men who opened fire at her. She managed to drive inside the hotel where she received medical attention before she was rushed to hospital. The suspects fled the scene in a silver Toyota Corolla.
Advocate Naude was working on a SARS case involving R37 million in unpaid taxes by socialite and businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize. The inquiry into the case was being held at the offices of Cox Yeats Attorneys in Umhlanga.
Her case was assigned to the Provincial Serious and Violent Crime: Murder and Robbery Unit and the accused were arrested in Cape Town.
Mbulwana and Runeyi briefly appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court looking calm and relaxed. State prosecutor Vaneshree Moodley said they were ready to proceed.
However, the private attorney for the two accused, Thandukwazi Manzi, reminded the court that his clients were Xhosa -peaking and that this was indicated before, as there was no interpreter.
Moodley said the court staff has been trying to find an alternative but no one was available.
In the previous appearance, the State indicated that it needed to look into one of the accused’s having a warrant of arrest, and Manzi said it was the defence’s right to receive feedback on that.
However, Magistrate Ashwin Singh asked him where in the Criminal Procedure Act did it say that the State is obliged to give that feedback to the defence. “This is a bail application, not a trial,” said Singh.
Although Manzi tried to argue for his point, Singh reminded him that his argument had no basis.
“Are you ready to proceed, yes or no?” he asked.
Manzi said he was not ready to proceed and asked for the matter to be postponed to February 5. To provide clarity, Moodley said the State has done its homework and it is ready to proceed.
Singh granted Manzi’s application and said he would make sure that a Xhosa interpreter would be available in February.
Mbulwana and Runeyi also face charges of possession of a semi-automatic firearm and conspiracy to commit murder.
nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za