Art auction smashes records

while they were made to lie face down.

Only Mathibela’s DNA was found on one of the victims, which tied him to the rape.

Earlier, Mathibela aggressively left the dock when he was confronted by journalists taking pictures of him.

He went down the stairs leading to the holding cells and was heard saying he would come up when the judge came in.

“I’m tired of these people taking pictures of me… aargh I’m tired,” he said angrily.

He sat down the stairs while his attorney and police officers asked him politely to sit in the dock.

According to the charge sheet, the group, armed with a gun and a knife, forced their victims to lie on the ground.

They used a knife to cut off the panties off the women and then raped them.

The gang stole their clothes, jewellery, and a cellphone.

The trio pleaded not guilty and denied being part of the gang.

The State relied heavily on CCTV footage to pin the men to the crime.

The footage, which was played in court, was in black and white.

It showed a group of men running from the crime scene.

There was also an informer who identified the men seen on the footage that led to the their arrests.

The trio claimed they had been placed under duress and were coerced by police officers to give their statements. – ANA AN ART auction at the V&A Waterfront smashed records, as a number of works achieved multiples of pre-auction estimates, Aspire Art Auctions said. The company said its inaugural Cape Town sale had attracted widespread interest from the media and collectors with “fervent bidding from across the world”.

Aspire says it is bringing a new vision to the market with a “curated approach with a greater focus on quality”.

At estimates of R2.5 million to R3.5m, JH Pierneef’s

sold for R4 547 200, more than four times the previous record for a non-South African subject by the artist.

Emma Bedford, head of Aspire’s Cape Town office, said the auction proved that the company’s vision of developing the market was “not only achievable, but enthusiastically supported by collectors hungry for exciting new developments in the industry”.

The company said “Amadlozi artists” fared well too. Amadlozi, or ancestors, refers to this group’s conscious appropriation of African artistic traditions. Of this group, Edoardo Villa’s set a record at R1 818 880. – ANA