Alleged political fixer Oupa Brown Mogotsi had a plan to walk straight out of the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court cells last week – dressed as a correctional services official, the State claims.
The bombshell landed on Tuesday when an affidavit by Colonel Alfred Odendaal, the investigating officer in Mogotsi's criminal case, was read into the record during the disgraced information peddler's latest bail application based on "new facts".
The 07:29 phone call
Odendaal says that at 07:29 on 20 August, he received a call from a Colonel Masenya of the Johannesburg Correctional Centre, who told him Mogotsi had planned to escape from court.
"He informed me that the plan is that he would disguise [himself] in the uniform of a correctional official, and would walk out of the court cells."
Odendaal immediately arranged surveillance at the court.
And when Mogotsi appeared that day, the colonel says he spotted something telling.
"On the very same day when Mr Brown Mogotsi appeared in court, I noticed that his ankle was covered with leg irons around his feet."
Pulled out of the transport vehicle
Odendaal says he then made enquiries with the correctional services officials who had escorted Mogotsi to court – and they had allegedly received exactly the same information about an escape plan.
Another official reportedly told him he was present when Masenya made the call, and that the matter had also been reported to a Ms Kheswa, the head of Medium B at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre.
Kheswa allegedly ordered that Mogotsi be removed from the vehicle transporting him to court.
"She further instructed that leg irons be placed around his ankle to minimise an escape."
On 21 August, Odendaal says he contacted Kheswa, who confirmed both the incident and Masenya's report. He requested a full report, which he says has not yet been received.
The bail bid: two new addresses
The escape claim surfaced as Mogotsi asked the court to reconsider his detention on the basis of what his lawyers call new facts – centred largely on two alternative addresses where he says he would live if released.
His wife, Dorothy Lekhoaba, said in an affidavit that the family moved out of their previous home after discovering the person who signed the lease was allegedly not the lawful owner of the property.
Mogotsi said in his own affidavit:
"As a result, my wife and family have experienced insecurity and uncertainty regarding our living arrangements."
Lekhoaba added:
"As I am uncertain when the true owner may take action regarding our occupation of the property, due to these circumstances, I have now moved with my family to a new address."
A new lease was signed for a property in Mmabatho, with a deposit and rental payments made. The lease agreement, an invoice and proof of payment were all handed to the court. Lekhoaba asked that the family's new address not be made public, for their safety and privacy.
The second address is the Johannesburg home of a family friend, Dipuo Chabane, who confirmed in a supporting affidavit that she is the lawful tenant and is willing to take Mogotsi in.
"I am also willing to assist the applicant in complying with any bail conditions, including regular reporting or signing at the address, as may be ordered by the court."
Mogotsi's legal team argued that staying in Johannesburg would make it easier for him to consult his lawyers as the case moves forward.
State: "He has shifted the goalpost"
Odendaal told the court he visited both properties. He confirmed Lekhoaba had indeed moved into the Mmabatho home, and he found Chabane at the Johannesburg address.
But neither property is registered in Mogotsi's name, he argued – and the Johannesburg address was never mentioned during the first bail application.
"The applicant, in his initial bail application, never mentioned [anything] to this effect."
He also pointed out that Chabane had only occupied the Johannesburg property from 5 May 2026 – roughly 10 days before Mogotsi's arrest – casting doubt on Mogotsi's claim that he used to stay there while attending commitments in Johannesburg.
"The applicant has shifted the goalpost by completely changing the addresses."
"The addresses, it is my view, that it is not difficult for the applicant to change addresses, and that makes him a flight risk."
"I am still of the view that there is nothing that ties the applicant to any of the addresses supplied, and may change his address any time, and abscond, and not stand his trial."
Third time unlucky?
This is not Mogotsi's first swing at freedom. His initial bail application was refused after the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court found problems with the addresses he supplied. A follow-up application on "new facts" was then dismissed in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, which found he had effectively reshuffled evidence already placed before the first court.
Mogotsi faces five charges arising from allegations that he fired 11 rounds at his own vehicle with an illegal firearm:
- Unlawful possession of a firearm
- Unlawful possession of ammunition
- Unlawful discharge of a firearm in a built-up area or public place
- Defeating or obstructing the administration of justice
- Perjury
He has denied the allegations.
Magistrate Annalise Tlhapi postponed the matter to 1 September, when further evidence will be heard.
