By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The political fixer Brown Mogotsi has been denied bail in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, citing failure to provide accurate residential addresses.
Mogotsi is accused of faking an assassination attempt on himself in Vosloorus, East of Johannesburg in November 2025.
He was arrested two weeks ago and faces charges including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm in a built-up area, defeating the ends of justice, and perjury.
The bail judgment comes after ballistic evidence linked the firearm used in the incident to at least two other serious crimes, an armed robbery and a murder case.
At the time of the shooting, Mogotsi told police that unknown gunmen had followed and ambushed him while he was driving a red Chevrolet in Vosloorus, firing multiple shots at his vehicle. The police recovered 11 spent cartridge casings from the scene.
The State, however, rejected Mogotsi’s version of events. Last week, it introduced evidence suggesting the shooting had in fact been staged. The court also heard that ballistic evidence showed that “the vehicle was stationary when the vehicle was shot… There was no person inside at the time it was shot at.”
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Magistrate Annalise Tlhapi said: “This court will not dwell deeper into the merits of the case, since I’m not a trial court; however, one of the factors to be considered is the strength of the case…”
“Is it is apparent to this court that there is an overwhelming case against the applicant; moreover, that cartridges that were found at the scene of the crime in Vosloorus are linked to other serious cases, serious offences,” she said.
Tlhapi said the court was required to weigh the interests of justice against Mogotsi’s right to personal liberty, while considering any prejudice he might suffer if detained. She said the court’s decision on whether to grant bail was guided by the factors set out in Section 60 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“I have focused mainly on Section 60 subsection 4b, whether the applicant will evade his trial, whether the applicant is a flight risk, whether he will be traceable or not, and whether he will be able to stand his trial”, she said.
Tlhapi found that Mogotsi had failed to satisfy the court that he was not a flight risk. This is because the investigating officer in the matter had visited at least three addresses provided by Mogotsi, his wife, and landlord, which were found to be incorrect, with the owners of those addresses providing affidavits and lease agreements to prove they were the rightful owners.
“All three addresses don’t correspond. The applicant failed to prove he has a proper address. The court cannot accept that it is an error by the landlord to write the correct address in the lease agreement.”
Tlhapi further ruled: “Therefore the court found out that there is no proper address for the applicant and it will be difficult for the State to trace him and there may be a likelihood that he will evade his trial. Therefore, the interest of justice does not permit his release. As there is no proper address, the bail denied.”
The matter has been postponed to Friday, June 12, for Mogotsi’s legal team to obtain a copy of the docket. He remains in custody.
Speaking to the media outside court, Mogotsi’s lawyer, William Sekgatja, criticised the decision, arguing that the issue of the address should not have been decisive.
“The only reason the bail was denied is in relation to the applicant being a flight risk, and this particular issue relates to the address. We believe that that alone is not sufficient to actually deny bail.”
Sekgatja explained that the address presented to the court was supplied in an affidavit by Mogotsi’s wife and had also previously been provided to the investigating officer.
“This particular address is where the applicant resides, and it was given to the investigating officer long before the bail application even started.”
He maintained that Mogotsi had been honest with authorities and expressed confidence that a higher court would overturn the decision to deny him bail.