The
applicant, acting in consort and common purpose with four others, is alleged to
have robbed ZB Bank at gunpoint on 18 March 2010. He is alleged to have
supplied the firearm that was useful in the robbery. The gang, using force and
violence, then stole USD114,724=; ZAR14,332=; one pistol; and six cellphones.
Subsequent to the armed robbery, the applicant's gang had a shoot-out with
police in which a police officer was shot and killed. He was previously denied
bail by this court.
He
now applies for bail on the basis of changed circumstances.
The
changed circumstances he relies on are that he has now tendered additional
security in the form of surrender of title deeds and travel documents. He also
claims that the State case has been weakened by the death of one of his alleged
accomplices, John Taranayi.
Undoubtedly,
this is a very serious offence. The mere fact that the applicant has now
tendered additional security and surrender of travel documents, does not, in my
view, convert into sufficient guarantee that the applicant will not abscond.
It
has been further submitted that our borders are porous and that the applicant
has contacts in Mozambique to which he might flee.
I
accept that those facts militate against granting the applicant bail as he is a
flight risk considering the gravity of his offence.
The
mere fact that the applicant's co-accused is now dead does not necessarily mean
that the State no longer has evidence against him. The facts alleged by the State
point to other independent evidence tending to implicate the applicant. For
instance it is alleged that he had possession of the firearm used in robbery.
He led to the recovery of that weapon. He has since been convicted of
possession of an unlicensed firearm. That evidence, if proved, tends to
strengthen, rather than to weaker, the State case.
In
the result, I come to the conclusion that there has been no change for the
better warranting the granting of bail to the applicant.
It is accordingly ordered that the applicant's
application for bail pending trial be and is hereby dismissed.
