By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Thirteen of the 53 military veterans accused of holding Cabinet ministers hostage have been granted R500 bail each.
Magistrate Bheki Ntshingila made the ruling on Tuesday and postponed the matter to February 1.
The 13 are facing schedule one offences.
The 13 are: Sizwe Maphumulo (50), Joseph Mthembu(50), Aaron Magooa(55), Abel Sekele(61), Johannes Modise(47), Nontyatyambo Samuel (female) (54), Thabiso Mashiya (47), Sibusiso Mazibuko (51), Kleinbooi Madontsela(51), Joseph Simelane(49), Dumisani Thwayo (49) and Alfred Seatlakgame (47).
On Tuesday, state prosecutor Sanet Jacobson indicated that they were now looking at 27 charges.
According to Jacobson, the profiles of the accused had been submitted but that only addressed 13 people. No pending convictions had been verified.
In her submissions, Jacobson also delved into how the accused were associated with the incident.
“In terms of association and court participations, I can’t inform the court … that accused number one was the one who shouted at the minister. The video needs to be analysed and for that the State needs time, which it wasn’t granted. So at this stage we can’t say accused number one did this, accused number two did that. We are relying on a common purpose and say that everyone was actively involved,” Jacobson said.
The court also heard that at least 9 military veterans were facing a schedule five offence and would also apply for bail according to the charges they were facing.
Jacobson said the State was pushing for bail to ensure that those accused would appear in court.
She said the State asked that bail be secured at R2 000 each.
But advocate Dali Mpofu, who represented most of the military veterans, argued that this amount was too high.
The war vets, who had been in police custody since Thursday, are accused of holding hostage the Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele; Defence and Military Veterans Minister, Thandi Modise and her deputy, Thabang Makwetla. The incident happened during a chaotic meeting at the St Georges Hotel in Pretoria on Thursday night.
In total, 53 war vets were charged in connection with the hostage incident.
However, the Pretoria Magistrate Court, where the war vets appeared on Tuesday ruled that the remainder of the former soldiers should remain in custody until Friday as it had been found that they either had pending cases or previous convictions.
The war vets have been protesting against the government’s alleged failure to compensate them.