Petrol station 'hitmen' still hope to get out of jail

Two men who stand accused of masterminding the assassination of Durban businessman Kidesh Ramjettan still want to get out of jail and will forge ahead with a bid for bail in the new year.

But for now Zakhele Dubazane and Menziwa Mdaka will remain behind bars.

The two were arrested after the 37-year-old business owner was gunned down at an Umbilo petrol station in August, with his final moments captured on CCTV.

The trigger man, Ayanda Shezi, is already serving a life sentence for the murder after pleading guilty.

In his plea‚ Shezi outlined the chilling details of the planning stages of Ramjettan’s murder.

He claimed to have been approached by Mdaka who asked him to help carry out a "job" he had been hired to do.

Shezi claimed the reason they were hired to kill Ramjettan was that he had been involved in "wrong" or "illegal" business.

On Thursday, state prosecutor Surekha Marimuthu opposed an application brought by the pair’s legal team to hand over the contents of the docket.

"There is docket privilege and there is no onus on the state to provide the defence with statements in the docket so they can prepare for a bail application. They have had sight of a plea statement which is substantive and lays out in detail the evidence that the state will rely on," she said.

"I am not sure if they are looking for something more specific in their application," she said.

Magistrate Vanitha Armu agreed, saying that the defence had all they were entitled to in their preparations.

Dubazane and Mdaka will appear in court again on January 23.