22 Aug 2022

High Court judge, Dr Zein Kebonang on Sunday directed cellular network companies to avail the record of the alleged communication between first accused David Modise and state witness Mr Isaac Selebogo, as a matter of urgency.

Following an application by the state alleging communication between prosecution witness and accused person, Judge Kebonang directed cellular network companies to immediately avail communication between the concerned cell numbers to establish whether there had been a breach of bail conditions by Modise.

This is in a case where the duo of Modise and Tumelo Tshukudu are charged for the October 18, 2015 murder of former Fairgrounds Holdings CEO, Michael Montshiwa.

 The request by the prosecution followed an alleged communication between the first accused person (Modise) and the state witness, Selebogo who was yet to give his testimony in court.

In their application, the prosecution team, through Mr Moagi Ndlovu, had approached the court with a request to be granted an order to seek telephonic conversation between Selebogo and Modise.

Mr Ndlovu said this was against the backdrop that one of the bail conditions for the first accused was that he must not interfere with state witnesses. 

“The state is suspicious that there has been communication between the two,” he said.

Mr Ndlovu said preliminary investigations by the investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Sergeant Marapo was that there had been some communication between the two, therefore, the state was asking for the court’s assistance to further establish that as a fact.

In the previous court session, prior to commencement and during trial, the court had learnt that prosecution was having difficulties in availing Selebogo to court as he was reported to be heavily intoxicated and therefore not in the right state of mind to make an informed decision.

Despite the uncertainty of availing him to court, Selebogo caught the prosecution off-guard with his sudden appearance at the High Court premises on Sunday, resulting in the prosecution suspecting the likelihood of communication between him and Modise.

Prior to continuation of trial on Saturday, the prosecution, like it was the case in previous court sessions, still informed the court that Selebogo’s situation had not changed as he was unable to stand in court due to his unsatisfactory level of sobriety.

The trial is ongoing with the prosecution still to call three more witnesses, including Selebogo and the investigating officer. Ends