The accused in the hotel heist case, Khumalo, has been granted bail at the Alexandra magistrate’s court yesterday. Bail was set at R2 000 and Khumalo was released after it was paid. Even though he was shackled when he entered the court room, freedom wasn’t far off as the State decided they wouldn’t oppose bail as they could find no valid reason to do so. Of course this doesn’t mean there were no conditions attached to the bail granted to Khumalo.
Ayanda Pakana, who is the state prosecutor, requested that Khumalo should be released, but should be reporting to the police station regularly. Apparently Khumalo could also become a state witness, as Pakana stated, because he might be able to help the police apprehend another suspect in the case, known as Victor.
It is alleged that this Victor is employed as a senior security head at the Sandton hotel and has used Khumalo’s entry or access card (Khumalo is employed at the hotel as a porter) to gain access to a certain hotel room. This room was occupied by a Middle Eastern businessman by the name of Farid Alshabbar. Some of the stolen goods include euro banknotes and some of these were found to be in the possession of Khumalo when he was detained by police. Therefore the charges laid against him include breaking and entering and theft and all this was caught on CCTV systems.
CCTV footage is being looked at in order to help out with the investigation, according to Moses Maphakela who is the spokesman for the police. The case has now been postponed to the end of July in order for more in-depth probe to take place. Khumalo’s lawyer has spoken out about his client and basically said that the State has no real case against him.
The victim in the case, Farid Alshabbar, is the director of the Middle East operations for Wall Street Organisation. He has stated via his own lawyer, Ian Levitt, that he would remain in the country until the case has been closed and the perpetrators taken to task.
