Two men charged with allegedly murdering a man in a so-called revenge mission were denied bail in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Deilon Makoppa and Kurt Bosman applied for bail following an attack in which at least two people were killed and another kidnapped during December last year.
A third accused, Damian Kammies, had earlier abandoned his bid for bail as he still has two pending cases of murder against his name.
In delivering bail judgement, Magistrate Phumeza Bono said that exceptional circumstances did not exist to warrant the pair’s release on bail.
In addition, Bono said that both Makoppa and Bosman did not have licenses for the use of firearms and the “prevalence of violent crimes could not be over emphasised”.
“People in Port Elizabeth are terrorised by criminals who commit horrific acts with unlicensed guns,” she said.
The men, who are reportedly affiliated with a notorious gang the “Spotbouers”, are facing charges of murder, assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The State has previously argued that although Makoppa denied being part of a gang WhatsApp group, this was improbable as the phone’s password he had provided was “freshdeilon”.
“His name was mentioned in the group chat, he was in control of that phone and the fact of the matter is that he was associated with the ‘Spotbouers’ gang. They operate in a group and things are weaved together by different people who play different roles,” said Prosecutor Rafik Ahmed.
The group chat appeared to also indicate where gang members would store firearms. An image allegedly sent to the WhatsApp group chat, depicted two revolvers and a pistol and in a separate image, a man in a pink jacket was seen carrying what appeared to look like an Uzi.
According to the State, the men were on a revenge mission to seek out Neville Bruintjies, known as “China”. Bruintjies had apparently embarrassed Spotbouers gang members after disarming them of a gun.
During November last year, Bruintjies was allegedly sought out by the men, and in the process, a trail of destruction was left behind. A man was killed and his body discovered in the Malabar vlak area, while Bruintjies’s mother’s house was reportedly burnt down.
The three accused allegedly then made their way to Schauderville, looking for Bruintjies. In their quest for information of his whereabouts, they allegedly assaulted and kidnapped Franklin Matthys.
The State alleges that in the interim, Matthys’ cousin, Deon, was shot and killed in cold blood by the accused.
The matter was postponed until February 24 for further investigation.
– African News Agency (ANA)
