Bail denied for Witness D’s alleged killer

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Well, things happening on the sidelines of Midrand as well. Today, the man accused of killing witness D, who testified before the Midrand Commission, Matlala Pandela Soteni, has been denied bail by the Brakpan Regional Court.

[00:00:12]Let's unpack that decision. Demakatso Leshoro, EWN reporter in court for us.

[00:00:16]Demakatso, good afternoon to you. Take us through the judgement by the magistrate today.

[00:00:22]>> Hi, Mandy. So, the magistrate went through a very detail about the case that Matlala Pandela Soteni presented in court, but made specific references to the fact that there were two affidavits that were sent or filed by the defense. The initial, the primary affidavit, in which some personal circumstances were not included in supplementary affidavit. Remember, initially, he was charged with six counts against him and when he appeared at the start of the bail application, there were additional charges that were brought against him. And therefore, the defense that wanted to, you know, supplement to provide a supplementary affidavit to respond to those charges.

[00:01:07]The magistrate said that he was saying that this was a sort of second bite at the cherry, you know, trying to introduce additional personal circumstances that would allow his release on bail because, remember, he's facing 16 charges, but two of those charges, conspiracy to commit murder and murder, are schedule six charges, which means that the onus is on him to provide exceptional circumstances that would permit his release on bail. The magistrate found that he hasn't done that and that even the evidence that he sought to to bring through the back door, if you will, there was no corroborating proof that he has extended family and all these things that he was saying that he's responsible for and that would, you know, be negatively affected his children, his wife, his girlfriend, his mom, his dad, who are old and are ailing. His his father, he said is sick with cancer. All those things were not in the initial affidavit. So, the magistrate said that, you know, you can't come and and try to take a second bite at the cherry. But, also made mention of the fact that there was heavy reliance on Zondo's defense team about the strength of Um, she will say the magistrate that if he's going to rely on the weakness or strength of the state's case, she has to prove bring prima facie evidence that he is going to be able to win on the probab- on probabilities that he will be able to win the case. And he he found that even if some some some of the evidence from the state are circumstantial, like the the fact that they can't exactly show that he was there at the time of the shooting, but he was around the area. So, some of those is circumstantial, but he that cannot be used to say that the state's case is weak against him. And he failed to bring any prima facie evidence to show that, you know, the state's case is weak and he will win the case. Also adding that he has information that was not in the docket, mainly like how the state of the children after the shooting, the mistakes that were made, the confusion at the crime scene, the arrival of emergency services. The magistrate asking, "How did he get this information?" He She says this shows that he has the ability to A get information, access witness, tamper with evidence. Remember, there was an allegation that he tampered with the murder weapon that was found, you know, from the company that he worked for. So, all those things she said that prove that he's not a candidate for bail.

[00:03:28]>> Demakatso, thank you so much. Demakatso Mashoro, EWN reporter on the latest out of the Brekban Regional Court.