Cele slams Khayelitsha magistrate’s court for giving mass murder suspect R800 bail

Police minister Bheki Cele has criticised the Khayelitsha magistrate’s court for granting R800 bail to a suspect facing charges related to a mass shooting.

Cele visited the township in Cape Town on Tuesday after Sunday night’s shooting in which six men died.

Police spokesperson Brig Novella Potelwa said murder dockets were opened after police found the bodies of five yet-to-be-identified men while a sixth person died at a medical facility.

Addressing the media, Cele questioned how a suspect accused of a mass shooting was released on bail.

He said the government needs to review the way it deals with crime.

“What frustrates me is that a suspect who was arrested has been given bail and it’s [his] fifth bail. He got bail for attempted murder, bail for possession of an illegal firearm and bail for robbery...” said Cele.

Bail of R800 for a mass shooting made no sense.

“Those magistrates and prosecutors don’t face the community — that’s a problem.”

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Potelwa said two suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday in connection with the shooting in Khayelitsha.

The suspects, aged 25 and 28, have been charged with murder.

“In relation to the arrest of the 25-year-old suspect, the investigation took the integrated team comprising of detectives, intelligence officials and Eastern Cape police to Cala in the Eastern Cape where the suspect was apprehended,” she said.

The second suspect was arrested in Khayelitsha on Tuesday. An unlicensed firearm suspected to be the murder weapon was allegedly found in his possession.

An additional charge of illegal possession of a firearm was added to the murder charge.

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