R100 000 to walk out of Pretoria cells, and Carrim still sits in Musina custody
The Pretoria Magistrate's Court let the North West businessman out on bail in the Commissions Act matter, but a second case at Beitbridge keeps him behind bars until October 30.
Suliman Carrim paid R100 000 and still did not walk out of custody. The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court granted the North West businessman bail on a charge of contravening the Commissions Act, but he remains held on a separate matter in Musina, where his bail proceedings are due back in court on October 30.
As Sunday World reported on 28 October, Magistrate Marc Curlewis granted the R100 000 bail in Pretoria. The charge arises from Carrim’s failure to appear before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where he cited illness. His arrest followed at OR Tambo International Airport on October 16, while he was travelling to what he described as a pilgrimage to Dubai.
The conditions attach to his freedom rather than to his money. His passport, already with the investigating officer, stays there until the trial is finished and his testimony before the Madlanga Commission is finalised. His legal practitioner must report in person to the commission within 48 hours of his release to arrange his next appearance before the inquiry. He must also report weekly to a police station. Curlewis warned that breaching any condition could bring a warrant for his arrest.
The State tried to reopen its bail case before that ruling, pointing to information from the Musina matter and to investigations that allegedly revealed properties Carrim had not disclosed. Curlewis refused the application, finding that the additional evidence would not change his decision. “The purpose of a bail application is not to punish the applicant,” he said. He also said the court believed the evidence the State placed before it would not affect the court’s judgment in the matter.
The Musina case is the reason the R100 000 does not end his detention. There Carrim faces charges of attempted theft of motor vehicles, fraud, uttering and money laundering, connected to two Absa vehicles intercepted at the Beitbridge border post in July 2026. Those charges stand apart from the Pretoria Commissions Act count, and the bail granted in Pretoria does not reach them.
The Madlanga Commission is the inquiry South Africans have been watching for what it hears about the state’s own machinery, and a witness who does not arrive is a problem for a commission that depends on people turning up. Carrim’s next date before it now rests on his lawyer reaching the commission within the two days the court allowed. The Musina Magistrate’s Court sits on October 30.
