South Africa: Brown Mogotsi Tries for Bail a Fourth Time After Three Rejections

20 August 2026
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Anita Dangazele
  • Brown Mogotsi will make a fourth bail application on 25 August, after three earlier attempts were rejected.
  • He is accused of firing 11 shots at his own car and falsely reporting an assassination attempt in Vosloorus last November.

North West businessman and alleged political fixer Brown Mogotsi will make a fourth attempt to secure bail when he returns to the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on 25 August, after three previous bids were rejected.

His lawyers say the new application will be based on fresh facts in the case. Mogotsi has been in custody since his arrest in May, and has already had bail denied twice by the magistrate's court and once on urgent appeal to the Johannesburg High Court, which found in July that he had failed to present any genuinely new facts justifying his release.

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The state alleges Mogotsi fired 11 rounds at his own vehicle in Vosloorus in November 2025, then falsely reported to police that unknown gunmen had ambushed him. Investigators recovered 11 spent cartridge casings at the scene, but the state says ballistic analysis and CCTV footage contradict his account, showing the vehicle was stationary and empty when it was shot, with no other vehicles in the area at the time. Prosecutors say witnesses saw Mogotsi leave his car, fire shots at it himself, and only later report an attempt on his life. He also faces allegations that he tried to bribe the investigating officer and gave police an incorrect address; earlier hearings heard he had in fact provided three different, unverified addresses.

Mogotsi faces multiple charges, including perjury, defeating the ends of justice, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm in a public place, and attempting to bribe an investigating officer. Police have said the firearm used in the incident is linked to separate murder and attempted murder cases.

At Thursday's brief appearance, the court dismissed a defence application to compel prosecutors to disclose the identities and addresses of state witnesses, ruling their details should stay confidential for safety reasons. State prosecutor Thami Mpekana told the court one witness had already been approached by people allegedly linked to Mogotsi after their details were disclosed during earlier proceedings. The case was postponed to allow the state to hand over the remaining investigation docket to the defence.

Mogotsi first came to public attention through his testimony at the Madlanga Commission, where he has been accused of acting as an intermediary between senior law enforcement figures and politically connected businesspeople, including Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala.

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