Court denies bail to Mkhwanazi, five co-accused in Mbense murder case - TimesLIVE

The Brakpan magistrate’s court on Tuesday denied bail to suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and five others who are accused of murdering businessman Emmanuel Mbense in 2022.

Mkhwanazi, 50, a businessman Cobus Janse van Rensburg, 42, a former Ekurhuleni metropolitan police department (EMPD) official; Adrian Norman Mackenzie, 43, and former police officials Bhekokwakhe Sibande, 36, Keisha-Leigh Stols, 40, and Juan Maree Eksteen, 33, are facing charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the administration of justice.

“It is alleged that on April 14 2022, the accused assaulted and murdered Mbense at his residence after suspecting him of stealing copper from a warehouse,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.

After the murder, the accused allegedly robbed the deceased of his personal property and approximately R500,000 in cash.

The state alleges the accused disposed of the deceased’s body by dumping it at Spaarwater Dam in Nigel.

The state opposed the accused’s release on bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the offences and the risk that they might evade trial.

“In delivering the bail judgment, the court found that the accused had failed to place sufficient evidence before the court to demonstrate the existence of exceptional circumstances which, in the interests of justice, would warrant their release on bail.”

The case was postponed until November 24 for further investigation and to allow for the arrest and addition of an outstanding suspect.