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Lack of Afrikaans interpreter leads to murder trial postponement

A lack of court interpreters at the high court in Gqeberha resulted in the trial of a 42-year-old Storms River man, accused of the rape and murder of his 16-year-old niece, being postponed again.

1 min read
The Judicial Service Commission is set to interview shortlisted candidates for vacancies at various superior courts at its sitting in October.
The Judicial Service Commission is set to interview shortlisted candidates for vacancies at various superior courts at its sitting in October. The Judicial Service Commission is set to interview shortlisted candidates for vacancies at various superior courts at its sitting in October. Picture: 123RF/3Drenderings

A lack of court interpreters at the high court in Gqeberha resulted in the trial of a 42-year-old Storms River man, accused of the rape and murder of his 16-year-old niece, being postponed again.

The trial was expected to begin on Monday but was rolled over to Tuesday, and again to Wednesday, due to no Afrikaans interpreter being available.

The man is expected to enter his plea on Wednesday.

According to a source close to the case, he is expected to plead not guilty.

It is alleged the man, who is not being named as he is yet to plead, smothered his niece while trying to silence her as he raped her in an open field near the MTO Plantation at Storms River on December 22 2019.

This, after the teenager had accompanied him to a nearby shop.

He then allegedly left the girl’s body at the plantation.

Her body was found five days later after a formal pointing out was made to the police.

A postmortem examination concluded that the girl’s cause of death was consistent with manual smothering. 

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