No bail for sangoma implicated in death of Thornycroft Lodge owner

A SANGOMA implicated in the gruesome killing of Thornycroft Lodge owner Elza Remant-Eyland last month was denied bail yesterday by the East London Magistrate’s Court.

Bhekathina Msomi, 36, who is from KwaZulu-Natal but practices his craft in Komga, was described yesterday as an unreliable and untrustworthy witness by bail court magistrate Joel Cesar, who later denied him bail.

Cesar told Msomi that the chances were that if he was out on bail he would evade his trial as he had proven to be “a dishonest witness” during his testimony when the bail hearing commenced last week.

Cesar said Msomi might also interfere with the ongoing investigations, and “the affected community members would lose trust in the justice system”.

Cesar said Msomi lied about his home address in KZN, the ownership of the house he was living in in Komga, and about his previous conviction for stock theft in 2001.

Msomi, together with his two co-accused, Jannie Fagans, 36, and Phumlani Mabaso, 34, were arrested late last month after they were found in possession of some of the items stolen during a robbery at the Summerpride lodge on February 16.

Mabaso, the first to be arrested in Inanda in KZN, was found in possession of a Toyota bakkie stolen from Remant-Eyland.

He was arrested on February 20, the day the body of Remant-Eyland, 67, who was last seen on February 16, was discovered by the police dog unit just a few metres from the lodge entrance.

Fagans – who had worked at the lodge for 11 years before he was fired on January 6 – and Msomi were arrested later that week.

Msomi was found in his Komga home with one of four cellphones stolen from RemantEyland.

Mabaso and Fagans abandoned their bail application last week.

Investigating officer Captain Leonie Peters told the court Mabaso had already made a confession implicating his two co-accused, while Fagans “also later made a confession, but he was nowhere in the picture in that confession”.

Msomi’s defence team yesterday argued that the state’s case against their client was “so weak” and that there was nothing concrete implicating him in the charges of conspiracy to murder, murder and robbery at the lodge. His Legal Aid SA attorney, Vuyiseka Kani, argued that the confessions by his two co-accused “will not be admissible” during trial. Kani also said that should Msomi not be granted bail his mother and five children, who depend on him for financial support, would suffer.

Last week Msomi told the court he had never been to the lodge before, but yesterday a witness who worked at the lodge placed Msomi there around October last year, when he allegedly attended a party at the invitation of Fagans.

Msomi joined his co-accused in the cells. They will appear again on April 10.

Remant-Eyland’s ex-husband, Ferdie Remant, said the lodge had been closed since the killing. —