GQEBERHA – The accused linked to a series of serious organised crimes in the Gqeberha region briefly appeared in the Gqeberha Regional Court for his formal bail application, which was postponed until Wednesday.
Xolani Busakwe (42) is a serving police officer attached to the DPCI Cyber Crimes component at SAPS Head Office in Pretoria and is accused of alleged kidnappings, ransom demands, extortion, robbery with aggravating circumstances and suspected organised criminal activity.
His co-accused, Simthembile Xungu, Ayabulela Busakwe, David Mthembu, Buhle Mbini and Andile Mathumbu did not appear today, 12 October, but were originally scheduled to appear with him on 20 October.
The court heard that the order the defence attorney, Sibongiseni Zimema, made on behalf of his client for the State to provide the full docket of the accused in order for the accused to be accurately defended in the bail application was suspended.
“The order for copies of dockets that need to be made available [for defence] has been suspended by the High Court at this time,” said the State prosecutor, Marius Stander.
The court heard that the bail application will continue on Wednesday, 14 October for the affidavit of the accused to be read into the court record. On Thursday, the State will respond by submitting its own affidavit and on Friday, the State and defence will address the points that are presented in court.
“We will exchange affidavits sooner rather than later so that on Wednesday, it will just be a case of reading one affidavit in, on Thursday, the State will read in theirs, and hopefully on Friday, we can argue,” Stander said.
Zimema added that the State and defence agreed that tomorrow, the State will provide the defence with sufficient content linking the accused, Busakwe, to the commission of the alleged crimes.
Stander explained that he would highlight what is relevant to the accused from the current charge sheet. “I will also email it to my colleagues,” he stated.
The court also heard that an order was made to allow Busakwe to be detained in a single cell. The motivation Zimema made to support this request was, “he is a police officer, and a member of the Hawks. Keeping him in the general prison may present problems for him, because he used to work in Gqeberha. He used to arrest and testify against people here.”
Mpimpilashe granted the order to separate Busakwe from the general prison population.
PE Express previously reported that the Hawks spokesperson, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, said Busakwe’s arrest followed an intensive investigation into two separate kidnapping incidents in which the victims were allegedly abducted by armed men and ransom demands were made to their families.
“Busakwe was arrested at his place of employment at SAPS Head Office in Pretoria before being transported to the Eastern Cape to face the allegations,” Mhlakuvana added.
“The investigation subsequently led the team to Gauteng, where information indicated that another suspect was based. Following extensive investigative work, the team proceeded to Pretoria, where a Warrant Officer attached to the SAPS DPCI Cyber Crimes component was located and arrested at his place of employment at SAPS Head Office,” he concluded.
The matter was postponed until 14 October for the formal bail application. Busakwe will remain in custody.
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