Hatfield Community Court to hear the bail application of Blue Bulls prop Jacobus “Bees” Roux on Monday.

Roux is accused of killing sergeant Ntshimane Mogale in the early hours of Friday morning.

Most of Roux’s family members were left standing, while journalists huddled in a corner as Tshwane metro police filled the court room.

Mogale’s colleagues and family expected to hear what led to the assault on Friday morning.

The chief prosecutor appealed to the officers not to interrupt proceedings when dramatic information is revealed to the court.

The assault apparently took place when Mogale was taking Roux home after he was stopped for drunk driving. The pair was alone in Roux’s car at the time.

Mogale died at the scene.

Blue Bulls prop Jacobus Stefanus “Bees” Roux has been charged with murder. The 1.86m-tall, 120kg rugby player will stay behind bars this weekend, after he was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning on suspicion of beating a Tshwane metro police officer to death.

The drama began around 2am.

Roux was pulled over by a random metro police patrol on suspicion of drunk driving.

Sergeant Johannes Mogale, 38, who was apparently patrolling on his own, left his patrol vehicle in Hatfield, got into Roux’s car and drove towards the N4 highway.

Security guard Richard Motenegi was on duty at a local business in Schoeman Street.
He noticed Roux’s white Polo moving “extremely slowly” towards the N4 in Hatfield. As he watched, two people fell out of the driver’s door while the car was moving.

“I saw the big guy on top of the metro cop. He was punching him in the face and hitting his head hard against the tar road.

“I was shocked because the metro cop was not fighting back, he was powerless because this guy was way bigger than him and he had overpowered him. He was already bleeding from the punches and his head hitting the ground,” said Motenegi.

Roux apparently noticed the car was about to leave the road, so he ran back to it to stop it.

Then he returned to Mogale, who was lying on the road.

“He started beating the guy again, lifting him off the ground and slamming him down so that his head would hit the ground first.

“While he was hitting him, he was busy saying (the cop) was trying to steal his car. He kept saying ‘You’re trying to steal my car, let’s see you take it now!’

“When he saw me getting closer, he jumped off the cop and started charging towards me, angrily asking whether I was one of the cop’s friends trying to steal his car,” said Motenegi.

Motenegi said Roux eventually stopped beating the cop and ran to his car, where he started hitting the steering wheel with his hands and holding his head as if in deep thought.

“He then ran back to the guy he had beaten and tried to wake him up. It appeared that he had realised what he had done, because everyone there could see that he was very, very drunk.

“When police came, they found him next to the metro cop, telling him that he needed to be strong as he could still make it,” he said.

Netcare 911, who were the first paramedics at the scene, declared Mogale dead within minutes. The attending medics confirmed Mogale had died from extensive injuries.

Sunnyside police station commander Brigadier Mahlomola Manganye confirmed Roux had been found by police on the scene, arrested and charged with murder. He said no weapon had been found.

Police could not explain why Mogale was driving Roux’s car. It is believed that Mogale might have been driving Roux home after he was found to be too drunk to drive.

The question remains why there was no metro police vehicle following them.

Tshwane mayoral committee member responsible for community safety Dikeledi Lehobye said the police had spoken to two other officers, but they were too traumatised to clarify what had happened.

“Details are sketchy, and we have released the officers as they were not in the right state of mind to tell us what happened,” she said.

Mogale had worked for the Tshwane metro police department for four years. He was a married father-of-two.

“We view it in a very serious light. We are appealing to the public to co-operate with police,” Lehobye said at the metro offices.

Lehobye was unable to explain if Mogale had been on duty on his own or when the other two police officers arrived on the scene. She could also not confirm whether Mogale was armed with his service pistol.

“Maybe a scuffle broke out or something, we are not sure, but when the police arrived, the officer was dead,” she said.

Roux’s lawyers were trying to have him brought before court before the weekend, but his attorney Ernst Serfontein said he would appear only on Monday.

“I believe there was an incident where a policeman died, passed away, and I know he was involved in the incident. How he was involved I don’t know yet, I can’t tell you.”

Serfontein said an advocate had consulted Roux at the Sunnyside police station on Friday morning.

The 28-year-old Roux was born in Upington. He attended Marlow Agricultural High School in Cradock in the Eastern Cape before making his Currie Cup debut with the Leopards in 2005 while studying at the University of North West. He moved to Kimberley to play for Griquas in 2007, before joining the Bulls this year as a specialist tight-head prop.

Blue Bulls Rugby said on Friday that it was aware of “the alleged involvement of a player in an incident involving a policeman who died. We do not have any factual information at this stage, but have been informed that the policeman passed away,” spokesman Ian Schwartz said. – Additional reporting by Sapa

Family of slain cop want answers
By Karabo Seanego

The family of Tshwane Metro Police officer Ntshimane Johannes Mogale, who was allegedly beaten to death by Blue Blues player Jacobus Stephanus “Bees” Roux, have a number of unanswered questions which they hope will be answered in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

It is still a mystery as to why Mogale – who died in the early hours of Friday – was driving Roux’s car.

As police continue with their investigations, the family has found itself trying to piece together a puzzle that will give them clarity into what actually transpired on the night.

Roux was arrested in the early hours of Friday after he allegedly beat the police officer to death.

Though details of the incident are still sketchy, it is believed the officer was driving the player home when an argument ensued in Hatfield.

Mogale’s uncle, Dichabe Mogale, is questioning where his colleagues had been when Roux allegedly assaulted him.

Another relative, Richard Taukobong, asked: “When has it ever happened that a police officer escorting someone they suspect of wrongdoing stops at a red robot?

“How do you let your colleague disappear from you when you are driving a state car with blue lights?” he wanted to know.

The family has been shattered by the loss of their only breadwinner and father of three.

Mogale was killed on his son’s ninth birthday after making arrangements with his wife to look for a bicycle for him as a present.

Mogale’s wife, Margaret, could not contain her tears as she spoke about the bleak future she faces with her children.

“Bees, I know you are crying with your family but I just want you to take a look at this little girl and tell me what I am supposed to do with her in the coming years,” she said.

The mayoral committee member responsible for community safety, Dikeledi Lehobye, said the two police officers who were on duty with Mogale had not been in “a suitable state to speak about what transpired”.

“We are planning to speak to his colleagues today,” Lehobye said. They were not in the right state of mind on Friday but will have had the weekend to calm down,” he said .

Road Traffic Management Corporation acting chief executive Collins Letsoalo visited the family in Shakung village, north-west of Pretoria, with some colleagues yesterday. He condemned the killing and said they would ensure justice was served.

He urged people to treat officials with respect and to resolve any disputes they may have by talking, not physical violence.

He said they would oppose bail when Roux was expected to make his first court appearance today.

Roux’s girlfriend, Karien du Toit, was quoted at the weekend as saying although Bees was a big man, he would not hurt a fly.

His family was expected to be there to support him.

Roux, who lives in Pretoria, has been in custody at the Sunnyside police station since his arrest.

This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on August 30, 2010