Here they are - these are the five men accused of assaulting a black couple at a KFC outlet in Montana, Pretoria, last week.
They are Stephan Nel, 39, Marius Harding, 23, DJ van Rooyen, 21, Ockert Muller, 20, and Joshua Scholtz, 21.
The five, who were declared public enemy number one over the past week, appeared in court on Thursday and will spend another week at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre before knowing the outcome of their bail application.
The five, who face charges of attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and pointing a firearm, appeared before magistrate Mathloki Rapulana in the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court.
The case was postponed for clarity on the investigating officer’s affidavits.
Proceedings got off to a surprising start when one of the accused, Harding, abandoned his bail application.
It is believed he has previous assault convictions.
Another of the accused, Muller, was granted bail last week at the same court.
It was down to their three accomplices versus the State during the bail application.
The tug-of-war began when the defence attorneys for the three objected to State prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda’s schedule 5 offence of attempted murder.
The defence attorneys tried to convince the magistrate that there was no proof to sustain the attempted murder charge.
But after deliberations, they accepted the charges of the schedule 5 offence in order to continue with the bail application.
Nel’s attorney argued that his client needed to receive bail because of his heart condition.
It is believed that the 39-year-old has a blood pressure issue and needs to take chronic medication for hypertension.
His attorney also argued that Nel was the sole breadwinner in his household, and that his stay-at-home wife and 22-month-old baby depended on him.
The other accused - Van Rooyen and Scholtz - tried to assure the magistrate that they were not a flight risk, saying that if they were granted bail, they wouldn't interfere with the investigation.
Scholtz handed himself over to the police on Monday.
A video of the couple being attacked sparked anger when it was shared on social media last Friday, prompting Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to request an urgent investigation.
The couple were allegedly assaulted when they asked the driver of the car in front of them to move forward in the drive-through queue last week.
The men had ordered and were supposed to fetch their food at the next window. In the video, the attackers could be heard swearing at Jacob Sono, 39, and his wife Dudu, 33.
Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele said the five were driving in two separate cars and attacked the couple behind them in the queue last Wednesday evening.
Makhubele said a firearm was drawn and used to intimidate the couple.
One of the men was heard saying “skiet hom (shoot him)” in the video.
Makhubele said the couple were receiving trauma counselling following their ordeal.
As the men applied for bail, a second video filmed after the incident emerged on social media. The video was recorded by one of the accused.
In the video, a woman, who is apparently one of the complainants, is heard saying: “It is not supposed to be like this.”
The woman seems upset as she stands in front of a car, with her hands beside her waist.
One of the accused can be heard asking: “So who started this?”
A man wearing a red jacket, who is apparently the second complainant in the matter, points at one of the accused and says: “You started this. You started this.”
A second unknown woman then joins the argument.
She says to the accused: “You started this, f**k you m*****f*****. Jy moet f***** ophou (You must f***ing stop).”
The female complainant then interrupts her and is heard saying: “Listen, listen, listen,” as she pleads with the accused.
One of the accused walks to the woman and tells her: “Leave it now, get in your car and let’s go.”
The male complainant is seen walking towards the man and asks him: “Where the f**k were you when they were beating my wife?”
The video ends with one of the accused getting into his car and being approached by an unknown man who says: “Eh bra sorry * é, we don’t know what is going on here.”
The five men will return to court next Friday.https://goo.gl/8GzZPb
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