Feared taxi boss Khekhe faces new charge

Mamelodi's feared taxi boss Vusi "Khekhe" Mathibela faces more woes as criminal cases pile up against him.

Sowetan has learnt that a fresh case of intimidation against Mathibela would soon be brought before court after a witness in the murder case of North West businessman Wandile Bozwana accused him of intimidation.

The incident allegedly happened last year at the Menlyn Mall in Pretoria when the taxi boss bumped into the witness.

This comes as Mathibela, 32, faces another case of robbery with aggravating circumstances which would soon be transferred to the Johannesburg regional court. He appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate's court last month.

A police insider said the robbery took place four years ago in Cleveland, Johannesburg. Mathibela allegedly pretended to be a policeman and robbed a Chinese businesswoman of a large sum of money.

The woman's vehicle was allegedly stopped by Mathibela and an accomplice, believed to be his close friend, both dressed in police uniform. Armed with police-issued R5 rifles, they robbed her.

The woman's vehicle was fitted with dash cameras which captured the culprits. Mathibela was identified from the footage by police, the insider said.

This brings to three the court cases Mathibela faces.

He was arrested in March and charged with assault, extortion and intimidation following allegations he ran an extortion ring in Mamelodi, Pretoria. The state then brought an application in the North Gauteng High Court to have his R50,000 bail in the Bozwana murder case, in which he's one of the accused, revoked and forfeited.

The state alleges that he violated his bail conditions by leaving the country and failing to report at the Midrand police station every Friday. The Bozwana trial is scheduled for July.

On Friday, Mathibela's legal representative Annelene van den Heever told the court that they would be filing an urgent application in the Constitutional Court today to challenge section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows the cancellation of bail in an accused's absence. Mathibela is challenging this section.

His bail in the Bozwana matter was provisionally withdrawn, rendering it impossible for him to apply for bail in the Mamelodi extortion case.

Van der Heever asked the North Gauteng High Court to postpone the hearing on him breaking his bail conditions as they would be lodging a 46-page affidavit today.

Judge Bert Bam postponed the matter to June 20.

Mathibela's lawyer Solomon Mkhabela said they were challenging that section of the law because the high court in Pretoria had relied on it to provisionally withdraw Mathibela's bail without hearing his side.

"Our justice system recognises what we call the rule of natural justice ... you must hear the other side of the story. We're saying Mathibela's bail was forfeited not in accordance with justice," he said.

Mkhabela said Mathibela believed police were bringing up all these charges to keep him in custody and as a result he was unable to prepare for the Bozwana trial.