01 Dec 2021

Four men accused of robbing Security Services of cash estimated at around P354 000, at gunpoint at Game City Mall, have been denied bail.

The accused, Michael Mogome (43), Mompati Arabang (45), Kagiso Segola (40) and Buca Setlhare (42) were on Tuesday denied bail and remanded in custody until circumstances surrounding the investigations change.

Extension II senior magistrate, Mr Lentlhabetse Willie said investigations into the case had just commenced, hence the investigating team needed more time.

“The investigating team should be given time and space to determine if this matter is not related to others reported around the country,” he said, adding that the police should also be given time to do more background checks on the suspects.

Magistrate Willie added that if given bail, the suspects could interfere with or conceal evidence.

He said the country had recently witnessed a series robberies where polie officers were shot at, and in others, dispossessed of firearms.

The magistrate said the court had been given uncontested evidence by the prosecution that some of the money had been deposited into Setlhare’s girlfriend’s bank account.

He said some of the accused persons were arrested within hours of the robbery, adding that the prosecution had also given uncontested evidence that some of the foreign currency from the crime was exchanged at the bus rank, while some money was deposited into bank accounts.

Mr Willie said the prosecution further gave uncontested evidence that some of the money was recovered from a traditional doctor consulted by one of the suspects, even the firearm alleged to have been used in the commission of the crime had been recovered from one of the suspects.

He said the robbery was well-planned and sophisticated, hence it would not be in the interest of justice to grant the accused bail.

On Monday, Attorney Sesupo Masaka for the accused persons had vehemently opposed the remand of his clients, saying the state had failed to show that they were a flight risk.

He accused the state of having turned the incarceration of suspects upon arrest into a norm.

“They have started to believe that it is a law. 

The position of the law is to investigate and arrest, not to arrest and investigate,” he charged at the court, stressing that investigations being at an early stage, did not mean that the accused persons should be deprived of their right to liberty.

Therefore, Mr Masaka prayed for the court to spare his clients from being incarceration for allegedly committing a crime until proven guilty.

“If there is anything we can do to avoid incarceration, then let us do it,” he said, adding that the court could attach conditions to their bail.

The four persons and another one, who was not before the court, are accused of having, on or about November 25, 2021, at Game City Mall in Gaborone, jointly acting together and in concert armed with a pistol and knives, robbed Security Services company of various currencies.

They are alleged to have robbed the company of P70 450, R134 100, US$13 161, GBP1 705 and EURO1 190. 

At the time of the robbery, they are said to have used violence on two employees of Security Services, using a pistol and knives, in order to obtain or retain the stolen money.

They are facing three counts of robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Ends