Bank deposit and cellphone records placing Thobani Hlongwa at the scene of the 2023 assassination help to torpedo his bail bid.

A suspicious bank deposit and cellphone records placing Thobani Hlongwa at the scene when DA uMngeni chief whip Nhlalayenza Ndlovu was murdered at home in Mpophomeni in December 2023 are among the reasons his bail was denied in Howick Magistrates' Court, KwaZulu-Natal, on Wednesday, 15 January.

The bail application of the second co-accused (whose name has not yet been revealed by the SAPS), who was arrested last week and made his first appearance on the same day as Hlongwa's bail hearing, was not heard. Instead, that bail application has been remanded to Tuesday, 11 February.

Hlongwa, who was arrested in October last year, faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of an unlawful firearm and possession of unlawful ammunition.

The case stems from the assassination of Ndlovu who was murdered at his Mpophomeni home, in full view of his wife and children, in December 2023.

Ndlovu's wife and two children, aged five and six months, were in the house at the time, with the nanny. They were not physically harmed but were said to be in shock after witnessing the murder close to where they were...