Jaco Horn was released on a warning (bail) today in Secunda court.
Local Businessman Jaco Horn was arrested on Tuesday on murder charges. These charges are related to an incident on Sunday where an alleged suspect was chased from Secunda Mall, by the Mall security down to Graceland golf course.
Several shots were fired, by various people, at the fleeing suspect. He sustained a gunshot wound to his legs during the chase.
He managed to enter the golf course and ran unto the 16th hole, where he succumbed to the gunshot wounds.
The Bulletin was also at the scene on the golf course.
Bail was not granted yesterday as the state was not ready and asked for a postponement. The postponement was granted, and Horn could apply for bail today.
Mr Skhosana appeared on behalf of Jaco Horn in his application. He read a statement from Horn regarding his application outlining his work and home situations.
Horn, through his statement, stated that he had no passport, nor does he have any ties outside of South Africa and should not be considered a flight risk. He is also a stable member of this community.
The state tried to make the court believe that Horn would be a flight risk as well as that he will interfere with the witnesses. They did not make credible arguments in this regard.
The state also argued that Horn left the scene. He explained that he did leave the scene after nearly an hour, but no one told him not to leave or gave him any instructions.
According to the eyewitnesses, Horn left the scene immediately and only returned later. Horn denied this.
Skhosana, through cross-examination, showed the court that Horn complied with every request that the police made. When he was asked for his weapons, he brought them to the station immediately. When asked to come to the station he also complied.
The state also claimed that witnesses phone enquiring about the case, putting it in such a way that the witnesses seemed scared. Through cross-examination, it became clear that the state was referring to another security company and not Night Guard Security. There was no relevance as the enquiry was to ascertain the state of the investigation.
The state prosecutor also argued that Horn knew the witnesses and would interfere with them. This was refuted by the applicant, Horn. The presiding officer Mr Roos also questioned this argument.
The state prosecutor claimed that he worked with the witnesses. This was also disproved.
Horn confirmed that he is the Community Policing Forum Chairperson and that the involvement there is totally voluntary.
See our video at the scene HERE
SAPS through their investigating officer Mr Mofokeng opposed bail. Mofokeng stated that they oppose bail based on the seriousness of the offence as well as that he believes Horn will interfere with the witnesses.
Mr Roos did not allow the argument as to the seriousness of the offence. He said that he does not understand the relevance as a reason to oppose bail.
Mofokeng then argued that Horn will interfere with the witnesses as there are still statements outstanding. With further questioning, it became clear that there were already 5 statements claiming that Horn shot the deceased. All of these statements were obtained from the Security company that did duty at Secunda Mall, Namely Night Guard security. The outstanding statements are from Stratcon and will be obtained on Friday 16 September.
Mofokeng then argued that Horn is well known and that he will interfere with the witnesses. He said that Horn is known as the CPF Chairperson and would therefore interfere.
Mofokeng, as the investigating officer, confirmed that he did not attend the scene.
The state prosecutor then asked, according to the witnesses and through his investigation, what happened at the scene?
Mofokeng said that according to his information, the deceased was begging at Secunda Mall. The security tried to engage the deceased and tried to move him to leave the mall as he was disturbing the customers. When approached the deceased pulled out a knife and tried to stab the security before fleeing. The security continued driving around the filling station and down towards Graceland where he was shot. They continued driving the van onto the grass of Graceland.
Mofokeng stated that his investigation confirmed that Horn was at the scene. According to his investigation, Horn left the scene but was called back.
The Bulletin, through our own enquiries, obtained information that the security officers fired shots at the circle area that leads to the mall. This fact was not stated by the investigating officer, Mofokeng. Several people also said that a lot of shots were fired but again this information was not shared with the court. We, as the Bulletin, pride ourselves that we make very few mistakes when reporting and can only hope that this was an oversight on the side of Mofokeng and not a deliberate attempt to supply the court with only part of the evidence. No reference was made to the fact that the mall security discharged their firearms!
Skhosana then had the opportunity to cross-examine Mofokeng. He immediately stated that the claim of interference is purely speculative. Mofokeng conceded that it was. He also conceded that the statement that Horn will interfere with the investigation is purely speculative.
Mofokeng argued under cross-examination that because Horn is known he will influence witnesses. Skhosana stated that strict bail conditions could be set to which Mofokeng agreed.
Skhosana asked Mofokeng that while the accused does voluntary duties to help the community and assist them on crime issues, “isn’t this a person that actually helps the community?”
Mofokeng agreed.
Skhosana then confronted Mofokeng with the fact that several shots were fired and that there were a lot of “guns” around. Could there not have been a case of mistaken identity?
Mofokeng responded that he attended the postmortem on Monday, and he interviewed the Doctor that did the autopsy. The Doctor stated that the wounds are consistent with a high-velocity rifle. The bullet entered the left thigh and exited on the left thigh.
He further stated that his eyewitnesses saw Horn shooting with a rifle. Skhosana argued that since Mofokeng was not there Horn could raise a defence of why he shot him if he did shoot at all. Mofokeng agreed. Skhosana further argued that the evidence is hearsay.
Skhosana then pointed out that the firearms were confiscated, and Mofokeng agreed, it was also pointed out that ballistic testing takes a very long time. He further argued that Horn complied with all the demands by the police and this shows that he is a responsible person. He asked Mofokeng if he wants to keep Horn in jail for a long time while the ballistic tests are done.
The court then questioned Mofokeng on how many statements does he need to link someone to a crime. Mr Roos said that he thought 5 statements would have been enough. He also questioned Mofokeng on how he thought he would interfere with those that already made statements.
Mr Roos said in his judgement that the constitution provides for his freedom but that it is now limited. The state made submissions that Horn will interfere with witnesses and investigation. Mr Roos is of the opinion that there is no reason why Horn will influence witnesses and that he believes the investigation has already progressed substantially.
Mr Roos is of the opinion that Horn indeed made a case as to why it is in the interest of justice that Horn is released. He will however add two conditions, one: that Horn is not allowed to have any contact with any CPF member and two; that he does not have any contact with Stratcon members.
As far as bail is concerned, bail is set to ensure that a person returns to court. Mr Roos deemed Horn not a flight risk and did not set a bail amount, as it served no purpose.
Jaco Horn was then warned to appear in court on December 2, 08H30.
He was then released on warning!
