This, after McKenzie Ratselane was on Friday denied bail by Magistrate Rasheed Matthews in the Regional Court in Bloemfontein. The NPA provincial spokesperson, Phaladi Shuping, tells OFM News that they have a watertight case against Ratselane who has since been in custody for seven months since his incarceration for stabbing his ex-wife, Dimakatso Folotsi, in February 2021 in Bloemfontein. 

Phaladi says Magistrate Matthews' judgment to deny Ratselane bail, clearly indicates that his reasons to seek bail were not of exceptional circumstance, as the state argued in court.

“We welcome the decision of the court not to grant the accused bail because we still maintain that it was not in the interest of justice for the accused to be released on bail. Secondly, he is facing schedule five offences and the onus was on him to prove to the court that there are substantial and compelling circumstances for his release on bail, and what he says today is not convincing to us,” he adds.

Ratselane is set for trial at the Regional Court on 7 and 8 September 2021 and has not yet pleaded to all the charges.

Matthews said he is satisfied with the state's submission and evidence that Ratselane will try to evade his trial and there is enough evidence that if released on bail, he will intimidate witnesses. He was arrested while hiding in Ennerdale in Gauteng after being on the run for six days. The bail hearing is set for two days on Thursday 5 July and Friday 6 July.

OFM News previously reported that the SABC presenter, Dimakatso Folotsi, says she fears for her life.

During Ratselane's bail application, the state witness and leading investigator, Paseka Mojaki, told the court that the victim, Folotsi, informed him that she fears for her life following a threatening phone call from her husband.

Mojaki said McKenzie allegedly called his wife from prison and asked her to pay for his legal fees and drop the case.

McKenzie, in his affidavit in court, refuted allegations by the state that he evaded the law. He said he simply left for Gauteng to seek counsel from his elders to fix what he termed as marital issues with the victim.

The state said McKenzie has strong family ties in the neighbouring country of Lesotho and Botswana and if given bail, he could again evade the law.

He was arrested on 16 February 2021 at an informal settlement in Ennerdale in Gauteng after he was on the run for six days. He is accused of stabbing Folotsi multiple times with a knife measuring 13 centimetres, according to the Magistrate's calculations. 

Meanwhile, the court on Friday heard that Ratselane and his wife are now formally divorced after an order was granted in the Free State High Court on Friday.

OFM News