Zimbabwean robber suspect granted bail in Botswana

A Zimbabwean man suspected to have committed robbery at Kanye in Botswana has been granted bail by the Botswana Regional magistrate.

Evans Mhiwatiwa (43) was arrested in that country following the robbery committed at Khanye area.
The bail granting come after two Batswana suspects implicated in the same robbery incident, were also accorded bail.

Mhiwatiwa, was last week given bail at the Regional Magistrate's Court joining Thuso Tankomane and Gaofenngwe Seitiso who were the first to be granted bail.  The trio and four others who were not before court are alleged to have robbed Roschvillie Investment Cash Loan and shot a police constable after a shoot out ensued in Kanye in late January. The police officer, Constable Focus Isaiah has since died from injuries together with one suspect who was shot shortly after the robbery.

When giving the accused bail, Kanye principal magistrate Janet Phosa said that Mhiwatiwa had furnished court with all the necessary documents to prove that he was indeed a resident of Botswana and had lived legally in the country.

"He has proven that he is not only a resident here, but is also legally married to a Motswana woman. The two have two children together and their birth certificates were produced for reference. The accused also has a residence permit, a valid passport and since investigations are almost complete he wont interfere with them," she said.

Phosa added that the accused would be given conditional bail of which its conditions would be agreed upon by the state.

The state, represented by Neo Kgothi, had earlier indicated that they did not oppose the bail application but instead asked for the suspect to produce two sureties that are Batswana with each paying P10,000 and the suspect to deposit P5, 000. The suspect was also asked to report twice a week to Sejelo Police Station, surrender all his travel documents, not to interfere with investigations, not to leave the Kanye policing jurisdiction without informing the officers, not to commit any offence while on bail and lastly to appear for all set court dates.

On the substitution of the charge sheet for a new one, Phosa told state attorney Kgothi that the application would only be done in the presence of all accused persons and their lawyers. Kgothi had earlier told court that investigations were almost complete and that they would like to make an application for a new charge sheet. "Investigations are almost complete and such we would like to substitution the old charge sheet for a new one. We are still waiting for the final forensic lab results to complete the investigations," he said. The new charge sheet has added two more charges on top of the five charges on the old version.

The suspects are now facing seven charges being murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, possession of illegal firearms, possession of unused ammunitions, uttering false documents to a police officer and entering Botswana through an ungazetted area.

They were all remanded to May 29, 2015.