The case against four men accused of raping and murdering two teenage girls and setting their bodies alight in KwaNobuhle has been transferred to a regional court ahead of trial.
They appeared briefly in the Kariega magistrate’s on Wednesday, where the matter was postponed to September 1 for further investigation and for transfer to the town’s regional court.
The murders, which rattled the Nelson Mandela Bay community, occurred in June.
All accused, aged between 21 and 28, were present in the dock, including the suspect who had to be transferred to hospital in July after he was attacked while in custody at St Albans prison.
The assault was recorded on a cellphone and subsequently circulated online.
The men, who cannot be named until they formally plead to the rape charges, remain in custody after abandoning their bids for bail shortly after their arrest.
They are accused of raping and murdering Ibanathi Peter, 17, and Sinothando Malinga, 19.
The teenagers’ charred bodies were discovered on the edge of the Nyosi Wildlife Reserve near Fourth Avenue in Khayelitsha, KwaNobuhle.
Community activist Thamsanqa Nkevu, who organised a group of supporters to protest against the release of the suspects, welcomed that they would remain behind bars.
“I believe the truth of what happened that night has not been completely revealed,” he said.
“More evidence was [allegedly] submitted to the prosecutor and it will show that it was not only these four [allegedly] implicated in the murders.”
The Herald
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