Pretoria - Four Lesotho nationals facing charges of attempted murder abandoned their formal bail application when they appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.
In a statement, National Prosecuting Authority’s Gauteng regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the four suspects are in South Africa illegally.
“Four illegal Lesotho nationals, David Chaka (20), Lehlohonolo Matshepe (29), Molemo Mokgathi (23) and Lekau Bolae (21), from Olievenhoutbosch, abandoned their formal bail application at the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court,” said Mahanjana.
On 24 August, the victim was at Zakes Tavern in Olievenhoutbosch when his two female friends came by.
“One of the friends, who is Chaka’s girlfriend, took his phone and attempted to leave with it. When he realised that his phone was missing, he asked Chaka’s girlfriend for his phone back,” Mahanjana narrated.
“Instead of giving it back, Chaka assaulted the victim, together with his co-accused, and one of them stabbed him six times with a knife, and they left.”
The victim was found by three men lying on the floor, bleeding and unconscious.
“The three men took him to the police station, and the police officer on duty contacted an ambulance. The victim was rushed to Kalafong Hospital,” she said.
“The four were arrested on 1 October 2022, after one of the female friends who were with the victim pointed them out to the police.”
The matter was remanded to 21 October for regional court allocation.
In September, the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court sentenced two “illegal immigrants” – Azara Josea Nyungele, 36, from Mozambique and Tatenda Tupudza, 22, from Zimbabwe to 26 years imprisonment collectively for housebreaking and being in the country illegally.
At the time, Mahanjana said Nyungele was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, while Tupudza was slapped with six years. They were both declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“This is after Nyungele was found guilty of 11 counts of housebreaking and being illegal in the country, while Tupudza was found guilty of one count of housebreaking and being illegal in the country. The offences happened between May 2019 and January 2022, when they broke into the complainant’s households while sleeping and took luxury items,” said Mahanjana.
The duo was arrested after breaking into a house in Annlin, Sinoville, in Pretoria on January 27.
“In court, they pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them, and in their guilty plea statement, they told the court that they stole these items to sell them. In aggravation, the prosecutor Rabia Ebrahim told the court that such crimes are prevalent in the court’s area of jurisdiction,” Mahanjana said.
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