Former Big Brother celebrity Brad Wood handed himself to Benoni police on Monday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of four illegal miners at an Aurora mine, Gauteng police said.
Wood and three co-accused arrived at the Benoni police station at about 8am, Captain Mack Mngomezulu said.
“They will be kept in custody until they appear in front of the Benoni Magistrate’s Court later today for a bail application.”
Wood and four others faced murder charges after four illegal miners were shot dead at the Aurora Grootvlei Mine in Springs, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday.
“The director of public prosecutions in north Gauteng has decided to charge three security guards and two mine employees with four counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder,” spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told the South African Press Association.
No comment
Mhaga said that because Wood had said on national radio that he was being charged with murder, the NPA was compelled to confirm the charges.
Wood was head of the security company used at the mine, owned by President Jacob Zuma’s nephew, Khulubuse Zuma, and former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela.
Wood was appointed security manger at Aurora’s Orkney and Springs operations in October.
Aurora spokesperson Thulani Ngubane said the company did not want to comment on the matter. — Sapa