Africa-Press – South-Africa. Michelle Bebbington, the fiancée of the security guard allegedly murdered by protesting Clover employees, says she is hoping that more arrests will be made.
Nkosinathi Mbatha and Mohale Shokane, who had been charged with Terence Tegg’s murder, appeared in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where their bail application continued.
The pair was arrested in February after Tegg was allegedly pelted with bricks and beaten to death while assisting two under threat colleagues.
They face charges of murder, robbery and the attempted murder of JJ Cassanga, another security guard who was attacked and injured.
“There definitely should be more people [charged with the murder]. I do know that they have identified other people. I do. They are trying to find them, so we can only hope and pray that they do,” said Bebbington after the matter was postponed for bail judgment.
Bebbington did not want the men to get bail.
“We have what we believe is a strong case, so we hope they remain in custody until the trial. It’s tough on the family. It has been a very long bail hearing, much longer than normal, and we are still not quite there yet, and we are back again next week,” she said.
‘This is murder’ – Clover strike violence claims second life
Tegg worked for Personal Protection Services (PPS) and had only been stationed at Clover’s Olifantsfontein operations for a couple of weeks when he was killed.
It’s alleged that of the 200-plus striking workers, about 30 were involved in Tegg’s attack and as such, the State would rely on the doctrine of common purpose when prosecuting Mbatha and Shokane.
During their bail application, both the accused’s lawyers argued that their clients were not the only people on the scene when the incident happened.
The lawyers said their clients fled the scene when chaos erupted, meaning they were not acting in common purpose with those who had attacked Tegg and Cassanga.
Mbatha’s lawyer, Mmiselo Bayi, also questioned how his client was positively identified when there were over 150 people taking part in the strike and over 30 who were allegedly involved in the murder.
Prosecutor Matome Mongwai, however, said the State had several eyewitnesses who saw the pair commit the murder before running off and hiding where they were later arrested.
He added that other people had also been arrested with the accused, but were never charged because there was insufficient evidence against them.
Meanwhile, AfriForum’s Gerrie Nel had been appointed to keep a watching brief for the victim’s families. The matter will be back in court on 19 April for bail judgment.
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