5 accused in AKA and Tibz murders make bail bids, case adjourned
Five of the seven men have made their applications for bail and the State will reply to their affidavits by way of evidence next week.
Aka and Tibz murder suspects. Picture credit: Sphamandla Dlamini.
DURBAN - The case against five men implicated in the murder of Kiernan "AKA" Forbes and Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane has been adjourned to next week.
Five of the seven men have made their applications for bail and the State will reply to their affidavits by way of evidence next week.
The State is expected to provide evidence linking each of the accused to the murders.
Durban businessman, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, and KZN farmer, Lindo Ndimande, applied for bail in the Durban Magistrates Court on Monday.
They were arrested last month along with five others, including two men in Eswatini.
All five of the men arrested in South Africa intend to plead not guilty.
Gwabeni is alleged to have received a sum of more than R800,000 which the State alleges was payment for the murder of Forbes.
During his bail application, Gwabeni confirmed he was a business owner with links to mining and construction and had an annual income of R3 million.
He claims members of the National Intervention Unit (NIU) stormed his Durban home on the evening of 27 February and assaulted his first wife, as he was not at home at the time.
The court heard that he had a previous conviction for violating COVID-19 regulations.
The court required that Gwabeni’s affidavit be amended as it contained information pertaining to the two men arrested in Eswatini, which had to be omitted before being placed on record.
This as the court claims it has no jurisdiction to hear evidence from a case in another country and until Siyabonga and Malusi Ndimande are extradited back to the country, it would not entertain any evidence in their matter.