Despite pleading poverty and stating that he cannot afford R3 000 bail, former Bafana Bafana, Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United striker Thamsanqa Gabuza managed to come up with the money to secure his freedom.
This after he made a brief appearance in the Alexandra magistrate’s court on Wednesday for malicious damage to property.
Thirty-six-year old Gabuza is currently plying his trade with TS Galaxy.
State prosecutor advocate Tshiego Deka told the court that the state has no objection to Gabuza’s request to be released on bail.
However, Deka told the court that bail should come with strict conditions, saying it should be set at R5 000.
Gabuza’s lawyer Themba Ngobeni argued that his client could only afford R2000, noting that Gabuza could not afford bail of more than R2 000 because he has not been paid yet.
“It is not yet month-end and he is married with children. The wife is not working. He can only pay R2 000, which is readily available,” said Ngobeni.
Magistrate Peggy Senne set Gabuza’s bail at R3 000 with conditions that he is forbidden from making any contact with a witness and going to her place of residence.
Gabuza was also ordered to attend all court hearings. The soccer star’s next court date has been scheduled for December 11. This is to allow for further investigations.
Before the court proceedings got under way, Gabuza appeared from the holding cells and walked up to the stand.
Dressed in a blue sweater and holding a red beanie in his hand, Gabuza was following the proceedings closely and communicating with his lawyer.
Speaking to Sunday World outside court, Ngobeni said Gabuza will not comment on the charge until the state has given him the full details of the alleged incident.
“We do not know the full details of what happened. We were told that the incident is about a cellphone that was broken. We do not know how it was broken,” Ngobeni said.
“My client reserves his right to remain silent and will only comment when we gets the full details.”
Asked if Gabuza’s wife or another woman is the complainant, Ngobeni declined to comment.
Gabuza handed himself over to police at the Bramley police station on Tuesday and spent the night in the station’s holding cells.
Sunday World has established that Gabuza and a complainant had a fight that resulted in the cellphone getting damaged.
Outside court, Gabuza’s friends including Musa Mgaga were waiting for him to come out after he was granted bail.
The trio shortly disappeared and secretly escorted Gabuza out of the court premises using a staff entrance on another side of the building.
Mgaga was slain soccer star Senzo Meyiwa’s friend. He appeared on the Netflix documentary titled Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star, which aired in April 2022.
Asked how he felt about the charge, Gabuza responded: “What do you mean how do I feel when I was in court?”
He then hung up the phone before other questions could be asked.
