Bongani Ntanzi, accused number two in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, has been remanded in custody following his brief appearance at the Pretoria High Court on Friday.
Ntanzi appeared before Judge Aubrey Ledwaba to hear judgement on his bail application.
Ntanzi applied for bail in October 2022 after being in police custody for almost two years. He was arrested in June 2020 at his place of work in Rustenburg, North West.
He is implicated in the murder of Meyiwa, the late Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, who was shot dead in 2014 at the home of his then-girlfriend, musician Kelly Khumalo, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Ntanzi is one of five men on trial for Meyiwa’s murder, and was singled out by Meyiwa’s best friend, Tumelo Madlala, as one of the intruders who invaded Khumalo’s home before the fatal shooting.
However, he believes he was framed for the murder.
During his bail application in October, Ntanzi’s legal counsel argued that he was a vital source of support for his family in Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal, and that his parents were both ill.
However, presiding judge Aubrey Ledwaba on Friday ruled that Ntanzi had not provided sufficient evidence of exceptional circumstances to justify granting him bail.
Ntanzi’s lawyer has also argued that he had not previously been convicted of any crime and had not applied for bail earlier because he had not been advised to do so.
Nonetheless, the judge ultimately concluded that it would not be in the interests of justice to grant Ntanzi bail at this time.
“Having considered the evidence before me, I’m satisfied that the applicant has not discharged the honest proof and exceptional circumstances that it would be in the interest of justice to grant bail,” the court ruled.
Ntanzi will be joining the other four accused men when the trial resumes on Tuesday, May 2.
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