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Former crime intelligence boss Major General Pat Mokushane has been granted bail, after being arrested in the early hours of Friday morning on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Appearing in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria, Mokushane, his wife Zandile, Brigadier Leonora Bamuza-Phetlhe and Brigadier Tiyani Hlungwani were each granted bail of R5 000.

The State did not oppose bail, but asked that conditions be imposed, including that the accused not be able to contact witnesses and the investigating officer. The matter was postponed to July 27.

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Two independent sources told News24 that Mokushane and his wife had been arrested in the early hours of Friday morning, while Hlungwani and Bamuza-Phetlhe were arrested on Thursday evening.

News24 has seen the charge sheet. The four accused will face charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering.

According to the charge sheet, Mokushane was the acting divisional commissioner of crime intelligence, with Hlungwani and Bamuza-Phetlhe working under his command at the time when the alleged offences were committed in 2017.

Alleged gratification payment

It is alleged that Bamuza-Phetlhe was paid R50 000 from the secret service account for the catering at a meeting which was approved by Mokushane. This was done after Hlungwani allegedly approached a colonel in the secret service to make payment into Bamuza-Phetlhe’s personal bank account.

However, the charge sheet alleges that the actual payment made to a company, in respect of the catering, was R5 000 and that the accused wanted the money for their own benefit.

It is further alleged that Mokushane agreed to a gratification payment of R19 700 for fraudulently approving an application for an advance to be paid to Bamuza-Phetlhe. The gratification was allegedly paid to Mokushane’s wife.

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News24 previously reported that there would be “new developments” in the case against Bamuza-Phetlhe.

She allegedly falsified security clearance certificates and received the payment from the State Security Agency (SSA) in her bank account, National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Khehla Sitole told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police on Thursday.

In August last year, the committee heard that Bamuza-Phetlhe issued an instruction to print a security clearance certificate for then-acting crime intelligence head Mokushane.

A leader of the Darul Ihsan Institute mosque, in Tafelsig, Cape Town, and his wife were injured in an apparent botched hijacking on Thursday night.

Speaking to News24 on Friday, Imam Abduraheem Abrahams said he and his wife were shot at near Philippi just after 22:00, on the eve of the Eid celebrations.

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Abrahams and his wife, Zahra, had just delivered food parcels to the poor in a neighbouring suburb before the Eid prayer when they noticed a man at the traffic light in the rain.

“He ran in front of the car and pointed the gun at me. He shot through the driver’s window and the same bullet that hit my hand, hit my wife’s knee. I just kept driving,” he said.

Abrahams drove to the Philippi police station which was not far from the scene.

‘I am just happy we are both fine’

“The police drove us to the hospital with my car and took a statement from there. I am just happy that we are both fine.”

Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said they had no record of the incident.

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This incident comes after two worshippers were killed and several wounded in an attack at a mosque in Malmesbury in the Western Cape, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Western Cape police confirmed the attacker was shot dead by the police.

The attack comes at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadaan, and five weeks after another attack at a mosque in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal.