Controversial North West businessman Brown Mogotsi will remain in jail for another week after the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court postponed his bail application.
Mogotsi was arrested on Friday for defeating the ends of justice after he was allegedly involved in a fake assassination attempt.
He made his first court appearance on Monday and is facing perjury, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and ammunition charges. The case was postponed to May 25 for a formal bail application.
The state requested a seven-day postponement, arguing that investigators still needed time to verify Mogotsi’s residential address in Mmabatho, North West.
Prosecutors told the court that Mogotsi’s lawyers only provided them with the address on Monday morning, despite the accused having been arrested on Friday.
The state argued that the address falls outside Gauteng and could not easily be verified within a short period because of logistical challenges.
Although prosecutors indicated they were not planning to oppose bail, they said the court should make a final determination once the address verification process had been completed.
Mogotsi’s legal team opposed the lengthy postponement and asked the court to postpone the matter only until Thursday.
The defence argued that the investigating officer should already have verified the address before Mogotsi’s first court appearance, especially because the accused had been arrested on Friday.
The defence further argued that postponing the matter to next Monday would effectively force Mogotsi to spend another weekend in custody before formally applying for bail.
Assassination attempt may have been staged
Proceedings briefly took an unexpected turn when Mogotsi raised his hand from the dock to instruct his lawyer.
He informed the court that the investigating officer had previously visited one of his business addresses in March and argued that the location was close to his residential address.
The State admitted that investigators had indeed visited Mogotsi before but maintained that the defence should have formally supplied the residential address over the weekend instead of waiting until Monday morning.
The magistrate ultimately granted the state’s request and postponed the matter to May 25.
The court said the postponement would allow investigators enough time to complete the address verification process ahead of Mogotsi’s formal bail application.
Mogotsi was arrested shortly after appearing before the Madlanga commission of inquiry on Friday, where he had featured prominently in testimony involving allegations of political interference and links to law enforcement networks.
Police allege that a previous shooting incident involving Mogotsi, initially reported as an assassination attempt, may have been staged.
- This story has been updated
Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content
- Brown Mogotsi, a controversial businessman from North West, remains in jail for another week.
- Johannesburg Magistrate's Court postponed his bail application.
- Mogotsi was arrested on Friday for defeating the ends of justice.
- The charges relate to an alleged fake assassination attempt involving him.
- He made his first court appearance on Monday; the story is still developing.
Controversial
Mogotsi was arrested on Friday for defeating the ends of justice after he was allegedly involved in a fake assassination attempt.
He made his first court appearance on
Prosecutors told the court that Mogotsi’s lawyers only provided them with the address on
Mogotsi’s legal team opposed the lengthy postponement and asked the court to postpone the matter only until
He informed the court that the investigating officer had previously visited one of his business addresses in March and argued that the location was close to his residential address.
Mogotsi was arrested shortly after appearing before the
Police allege that a previous shooting incident involving Mogotsi, initially reported as an assassination attempt, may have been staged.
This story has been updated
Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content
