Brown Mogotsi to mount fresh bail bid after court postpones hearing

Controversial North West businessman Brown Mogotsi will remain in custody after his case was postponed to allow his legal team to bring a fresh bail application based on what they describe as new facts.

Brief court appearance and new bail plan

Mogotsi made a brief appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday. His legal team asked that the matter be transferred to the bail court so they could present a new bail application. The court postponed the matter until 22 June for that application to be heard.

Why bail was previously refused

Magistrate Annelise Thlapi denied bail on 4 June, saying Mogotsi had provided three different residential addresses and had not proved where he lived.

“There are three different addresses provided by the applicant,” Thlapi said. “The applicant failed to prove before this court that he has a proper address.”

The magistrate concluded that Mogotsi could not be reliably traced and might evade trial.

“The interests of justice do not permit his release,” Thlapi said.

Charges and the alleged staged attack

Mogotsi faces charges of perjury, defeating the ends of justice, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and discharging a firearm in a public place. The charges arise from allegations that he staged his own assassination attempt in Vosloorus in November 2025.

Prosecution and defence positions

The State opposed bail and alleged witnesses saw Mogotsi stop his vehicle and fire shots at it before later claiming there had been an attempt on his life. Prosecutors also alleged he provided investigators with false addresses, delayed cooperating with police and attempted to bribe an officer involved in the case. The State said CCTV footage showed no other vehicles in the area at the time of the incident, and that investigators struggled to trace Mogotsi after receiving reports that he had died.

The defence rejected those claims and said Mogotsi had provided proof of residence, including an affidavit from his customary wife, GPS data, telephone records and municipal documentation. His lawyer, William Sekgatja, said the address discrepancies were minor and amounted to “an honest mistake”.

“The only discrepancy is how these particular numbers follow each other,” he said. “It was an honest mistake.”

Defence lawyer Nthabiseng Mohamane previously said discrepancies in a lease agreement were the result of a typographical error. Sekgatja said the address had been provided by Mogotsi’s wife and confirmed by traditional authorities, and added that they were not satisfied with the bail decision and that Mogotsi had a right to appeal to the High Court.

Current status

Mogotsi remains in custody while the new bail application is scheduled to be heard on 22 June.