The suspects who are accused of shooting and killing two DA members and a Lesotho National execution-style, on Friday applied for bail with new facts but the matter was postponed to today. The date 27 March 2020 was initially touted as the High Court trial date, depending on a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Free State. According to a reliable source, this was before the coronavirus pandemic - which led to the national lockdown - allegedly hampered further investigations into the matter following the discovery of two suspected murder weapons located in Lesotho.

OFM News understands that to date the two guns that were allegedly used as the murder weapons by these suspects remain in Lesotho owing to delays in the investigation due to the lockdown.

The accused in the murder case of Molokwane Mokgoro, Godfrey Mbalula and one Lesotho national, include Lebusa Makhotla, Koebu Motsapi, Seipati Ramatisa, Molefi Chele and Jabulani Machoto.

It is alleged that the three victims were killed after they allegedly stole equipment from a road construction project in the area. The suspects are facing murder charges and they are all in custody after abandoning their bail application in 2019.

Ramatisa, who is the mother of two kids, has since appeared in court and also abandoned her bail application. She will not be joining these four suspects in their quest to be released on bail.

Ramatisa, who is the girlfriend of Machoto, is accused of tampering with material evidence with the hopes of destroying it in favour of her boyfriend. OFM News previously reported that the  State Prosecutor, Johan de Vries, told the court that a high-risk matter around this case had since become known, which forced the Technical Response Team (TRT) members’ help to be called in.

The bodies of the deceased were found in an open field next to a construction site in Caleb Motshabi in late July last year. Mokgoro and the foreign national was declared dead on the scene, while Mbalula was rushed to the Pelonomi Hospital where he later died due to wounds sustained.

In 2019 during the bail hearing, De Vries maintained that the case was a matter that should be trialed by the High Court.

OFM News