A Blue Bulls rugby player was granted R100 000 bail by the Pretoria District Court on Monday after he allegedly beat a metro police officer to death.
Jacobus Stephanus “Bees” Roux spent the weekend in jail after he was arrested on Friday following the murder of Tshwane metro police officer Ntshimane Johannes Mogale, 38.
He intended pleading not guilty to charges of murder and driving under the influence of alcohol, the court heard. The matter was postponed to October 15.
Wearing a grey jersey, Roux stood in the dock with his hands clenched.
The courtroom was packed with Tshwane metro police officers, some of whom had to sit on the floor.
While Roux’s defence counsel asked for bail of R5000 and the State for R20 000 because of the nature of the crime, Magistrate Desmond Nair set it at R100 000.
Means and funds
In setting the amount, Nair said the court could not ignore the fact that the accused had the means and the funds to travel overseas and that he had done so in the past.
According to an affidavit from Roux, he had previously travelled to Ireland, France and Australia to play rugby. He also had a bank account in France containing €5000 as he had played there for three months in 2008.
His annual income was around R850 000.
“I have no intention to live the life of a fugitive,” Roux told Magistrate Desmond Nair in support of his bail bid.
Defence attorney Rudi Krause told the court Roux had no previous convictions and was not a flight risk.
However Nair pointed out that Roux was accused of a Schedule Six offence and not Schedule Five, because a law enforcement officer was involved. According to Schedule Six of the Criminal Procedure Act an accused can only be granted bail if they show “exceptional circumstances” exist to do so.
Krause argued that these circumstances were the fact that the State did not opposing bail initially, and that the contents of Roux’s first statement were not in dispute.
Bail was paid and Roux was released on Monday.
Credit card use
Meanwhile, it emerged on Monday that Roux’s credit card was used at a McDonald’s fast food outlet at the time he was supposed to have been in custody.
Roux was arrested in the early hours on Friday. Mogale’s body was found lying in Schoeman Street, Pretoria, with head injuries at 3.00am on Friday. He had reportedly earlier pulled Roux over for suspected drunk driving.
Investigating officer Patrick Mafanel testified that the circumstances surrounding the incident were still unclear, Beeld reported.
“We know Mohale was on duty along with two colleagues and that they pulled Roux over at the corner of Schoeman and Festival streets for drunk driving,” said Mafanel in a report on News24.
“Mohale told his colleagues he was going to drive Roux’s car home because Roux was drunk.
“But we don’t know why the colleagues didn’t follow them or see the assault.”
Unanswered questions
The defence argued that there were still many unanswered questions. These include why Mohale’s colleagues didn’t follow him and Roux, why Roux was not arrested for drunk driving and why Mohale was driving in the opposite direction of the nearest police stations (Brooklyn and Sunnyside) towards Roux’s house in Equestria, in the east of Pretoria, according to the report.
Mafanel also testified that Mohale’s two colleagues had not made statements because they didn’t see what happened.
Nair described these circumstances as “strange” in his bail verdict. — Sapa