POLOKO TAU
TWO SOWETO police officers arrested for allegedly supplying suspected ATM bombers with ammunition were released on bail after spending two weeks behind bars.
The weary-looking Moroka police station constables, Authority Gamede, 29, and Vincent Hlubi, 35, were granted R2 000 bail each by magistrate Denise Morton in a packed Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
State advocate Yusuf Baba told the court during the pair’s bail application last Friday that cellphone records had revealed constant communication between the two officers and an alleged gang member on the day a police reservist was killed during an ATM bombing at a Soweto filling station.
Two suspects, Hector Mabaso, 29, and Sifiso Shezi, 35, were arrested for the murder of Kliptown police reservist Busisiwe Mehlwana, 33, who was gunned down during an ATM robbery at a Total garage in Pimville earlier last month.
Baba said numerous calls were made from Hlubi’s cellphone to Mabaso’s on the day Mehlwana was killed.
Gamede said in his bail application affidavit that he was the one phoning Mabaso to raise bail money, after he was arrested for driving under the influence and getting involved in a collision about three hours before Mehlwana was killed.
He said he knew Mabaso because they came from the same area in KwaZulu-Natal.
As part of their bail conditions, the two officers who reside at the Moroka police station barracks were asked to report three times a week to the Organised Crime Police Unit in Krugersdorp.
Their case was postponed to September 7, when they will be back to face charges for defeating the ends of justice. Prosecutor Baba said last week they could possibly be charged as accomplices to murder as the investigation proceeded.