Katiso Molefe case: State's case 'lacks real facts', Johannesburg High Court finds

The Johannesburg High Court on Friday granted alleged crime kingpin Katiso "KT" Molefe R400,000 bail after the presiding judge deemed the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) case to be "highly speculative".

Judge Brad Wanless granted Molefe bail, escalating the matter from the Alexandra Magistrates Court, which had denied the application in August.
The Magistrates' Court had ruled that the accused failed to prove exceptional circumstances for his release.

The 61-year-old is accused of orchestrating the murders of popular musicians DJ Sumbody and DJ Vintos, whose real names were Oupa Sefoka and Hector Buthelezi, respectively.

During Molefe's bail appeal in the High Court, the State disclosed details of its case against him. This included alleged calls made between Molefe and the suspected hitmen around the time DJ Sumbody was killed, as well as Molefe's relationship with some of the co-accused.

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However, Judge Wanless was not convinced of the strength of the State's case.

"Not only are the contents of the affidavits highly speculative in nature, but there is a distinct lack of real facts contained therein," Judge Wanless said.

The judge agreed with Molefe's legal team that there was no objective evidence to suggest Molefe would evade trial.

"Despite the serious nature of the alleged offences, there is no objective evidence before this court to show that should the appellant be granted bail, this would be in conflict with the provisions of the act as set out above," Wanless stated.

Molefe's R400,000 bail is in addition to the R100,000 release he was already out on in connection with the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.