By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted the murder-accused businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe bail of R400 000 after a successful appeal.
Molefe launched his leave to appeal application with the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court denied him bail on several occassions.
Judge Brad Wanless handed down his judgement on Friday, concluding that the state’s opposition to the appeal application was not “based on any real evidence”.
“Despite the serious nature of the alleged offences, there is no objective evidence before this court to show that should the appellant be granted bail, this would be in conflict with the provisions of the [Criminal Procedure] Act,” the judge said.
He set aside the magistrate’s ruling in favour of Molefe, saying the court misdirected itself in refusing his bail.
The appellant is granted bail in the amount of R400 000.
“This amount is in addition to the bail granted by the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria) in the sum of R100 000,” he said.
Wanless ordered Molefe to report to Morningside Police Station three times a week.
The suspect’s movements were also restricted to Gauteng, and he cannot leave the province without permission.
“The appellant is permitted to travel to Welkom, Free State, for business purposes after informing the investigating officer of his intent to do so in writing,” the judge added.
Molefe was further barred from interacting with state witnesses.
Molefe was arrested in July 2025 by the SAPS Political Killings Task Team in Gauteng.
He is accused of masterminding the 2022 murders of popular music producer and nightclub owner Oupa “DJ Sumbody” Sefoka, and his bodyguards, Sibusiso Mokoena and Sandile Myeza.
He faces multiple charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. At the time of his arrest, he was already out on bail in a separate assassination case.
His co-accused, Michael Pule Tau, Musa Kekana, and Tiego Floyd Mabusela, have not applied for bail.
Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, SAPS Divisional Commissioner of Crime Intelligence, last week named Molefe and businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala as leaders of the so-called “Big Five” cartel during his testimony before the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry into corruption and criminal infiltration in the justice system.
Meanwhile Psira has suspended eight employees after uncovering irregularities in the registration of Matlala’s company.
The investigation revealed instances of non-compliance, improper approvals, and failures to act on clear indicators of criminality.
PSIRA has also initiated a legal review of the registrations of Cat Protection and Security and its director, Matlala.
Other actions include a governance and compliance audit of all applications processed under the current governance structures, a focused review of all registrations where individuals with multiple or serious criminal records were approved and a targeted audit of applications linked to the “Big Five” referenced in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report on the Tembisa Hospital tender fraud, among others.