Petrol station 'assassins' ditch their applications for bail

23 January 2019 - 15:19 By JEFF WICKS
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Menziwa Mdaka (left) and Zakhele Dubazane appear before Magistrate Vanitha Armu in the Durban Magistrate's court on December 20 2018.
Menziwa Mdaka (left) and Zakhele Dubazane appear before Magistrate Vanitha Armu in the Durban Magistrate's court on December 20 2018.
Image: Jeff Wicks

Two men who stand accused of masterminding the assassination of Durban businessman Kidesh Ramjettan abandoned their bid for bail in the Durban Magistrate’s court on Wednesday.

Zakhele Dubazane and Menziwa Mdaka will remain behind bars for the duration of their trial.

The two were arrested after the 37-year-old business owner was gunned down at an Umbilo petrol station in August, with his final moments captured on CCTV.

The trigger man, Ayanda Shezi, is already serving a life sentence for the murder after pleading guilty.

In his plea‚ Shezi outlined the chilling details of the planning stages of Ramjettan’s murder.

He claimed to have been approached by Mdaka who asked him to help carry out a "job" he had been hired to do.

Shezi claimed the reason they were hired to kill Ramjettan was that he had been involved in "wrong" or "illegal" business.

On Wednesday, magistrate Vanitha Armu heard that the pair had opted against applying for bail, a matter which had been set down for two days on her court calendar.

State prosecutor Herman Mouton said that the investigation into the slaying was being expedited and that video analysis of CCTV footage - as well as tracing of a man still at large - was under way.

Dubazane and Mdaka will return to court on February 28.


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