Eight VIP protection officers are in the dock after the three motorists were attacked by members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile's security detail on the N1 in Johannesburg earlier this month.
It emerged during the officers' bail application in the Randburg Magistrates Court that one of the key witnesses claims to have received a threatening SMS. While the State has used the message as a reason for opposing bail - Mbhoni Mahlaule, the lawyer for one of the accused, says there's no evidence linking the officers to the SMS.
"The State wants to attribute this particular action of intimidation to the applicants, which is not fair. Now, they are saying the accused are the only ones that stand to benefit from intimidation from witnesses, which we argue it is not the case. "It can be anybody trying to jeopardise the applicants' case because they know if there is intimidation of witnesses, the State can stand on that leg to oppose the bail application of the accused persons and the court will definitely not agree with the release of the applicants if it is said they are intimidating witnesses."
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