During proceedings in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein, which resumed on Thursday 31 October following a three-day adjournment, Prosecutor Johan de Nysschen reveals the accused, Stanley Bakili, is now facing an additional charge of defeating/obstructing the ends of justice. It is alleged that between July and August 2019, Bakili sent the state’s key witness and confessed assassin, Xolisile “Botha” Mbebetho, a hand-written letter from Grootvlei prison to an undisclosed prison in Kimberley. In the letter he threatens to have Mbebetho, as well as his girlfriend and child, killed should he continue with his testimony as a state witness during the trial. The letter is believed to have been hand-written.

 Bakili joins seven other accused in the dock today, namely: Mogoera Molebatsi, Kagiso Chabane, Mojalefa Jali Molusi, Moeketsi Lesia, Karabo Tau, Sizwe Mpati, and Clive Tshivenga. They are each alleged to have played varying roles in planning and carrying out the murder of Siemens on 10 May 2018. Siemens, the then Managing Director of CityMed, was shot and killed in the basement parking area of the Preller Square shopping complex. His shady business dealings with Bakili and alleged payment of bribes for hospital licenses to Health Department officials form the background of the case.

All accused have pleaded not guilty to the various crimes they are alleged to have committed. The state’s first witness, 42-year-old Bloemfontein businessman, Sello Matthew Rantso, is currently on the stand giving testimony on his interactions with Siemens, Bakili and various officials from the Health Department.

The trial was meant to have gotten underway on Monday (28 October), however, what instead transpired on the day was a back and forth blame game between the state and the defence, with the latter requesting a postponement to gain access to video footage and a stack of documents, which include statements by a Mr Duncan Lechesa and legal adviser at the Free State Health Department, Justice Vinger.

OFM News