Advocate Malesela Teffo released on R10k bail after dramatic arrest in court

29 April 2022 - 13:08
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Advocate Malesela Teffo appears in the Hillbrow magistrate's court in Johannesburg on Friday.
Advocate Malesela Teffo appears in the Hillbrow magistrate's court in Johannesburg on Friday.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

Advocate Malesela Teffo was granted R10,000 bail on Friday after his dramatic arrest the day before in the Pretoria high court when the Senzo Meyiwa trial had adjourned.

Teffo appeared in the Hillbrow magistrate’s court for failure to appear in another court for assault and trespassing charges not related to the Meyiwa trial

Bail suggested by the state was R5,000 but the court ruled that because this was the second time he had been arrested bail should be set at R10,000.

Teffo had missed two court appearances in the matter. The first was in December but was postponed to February 10 due to him being ill with Covid-19.

He said he missed the February date because the investigating officer said he would appear in the Johannesburg regional court when in fact he was to appear in the Hillbrow magistrate's court.

The magistrate expressed surprise that Teffo did not get that information from the court rather than the investigating officer, because he should be familiar with the procedure.

Attorney Tshepo Thobane said Teffo would still work the Meyiwa case and they wanted his next appearance date to be May 27, as Teffo would be in court for the Meyiwa case on the suggested May 30 date.

In a voice note sent to SAfm and played on air by Aldrin Sampear on Thursday evening, Teffo claimed his arrest was fraudulent and involved the same case number as a warrant cancelled on December 28 and reopened on January 27.

He questioned why the authorities had only acted on the arrest now, and suggested it was a “smokescreen” by police and NPA “honchos” who were “concerned about my presence in the case because they know it is going to bite them”.

Speaking to media on Friday, Thobane said he told the court Teffo had received threats but he would not go into detail.

Teffo again said he believed the authorities — the NPA and SAPS — were involved in the arrest. He said his spirit was not broken and he was more determined than ever, but needed to take instruction on the way forward.

Police ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said police minister Bheki Cele had requested a full report from the national commissioner on the arrest, “including the manner in which the arrest was conducted by police”.

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