Reeston accused set to try for bail

SEVEN men from Reeston accused of kidnapping, assaulting and later killing two youths will wait a week in jail before they hear whether they are granted bail.

The accused – Lungisa Kula, 34, Thozamile Tafane, 45, Luvo Mpongwana, 33, Sakhumzi Jiya, 41, Khayalethu Mngcongco, 31, Thanduxolo Mbebe, 37 and Thobela Robeni, 38 – yesterday appeared before East London bail magistrate Joel Cesar.

They were arrested in the early hours of Sunday after some of them confessed to killing 18-year-old Lihle Sokutu and his 20-year-old friend, Londoloza Ntlombeni last month.

They have been charged with two counts of murder, two of kidnapping, two of assault and one of defeating the ends of justice by discarding the two bodies.

The two youths were believed to have been accused of breaking into people’s houses in the Reeston area, according to local police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Hazel Mqala.

Their bodies were retrieved by police search and rescue units from Mthatha, East London and Cradock on Monday from the bottom of a cliff in Butterworth.

Police believe the assault happened in Reeston on March 14, and the victims were loaded in two vehicles the next day, taken to Manqulo village in Butterworth, and pushed over a cliff where they were left to die.

Mqala said a missing persons case was reported at the Scenery Park police station earlier this month. Detectives later arrested the suspects in Reeston’s Chicken Farm area.

Police say the suspects led them to where the bodies were dumped.

Two vehicles believed to have used in transporting the two to Butterworth – a charcoal Toyota Avanza and a white Toyota Tazz – have been confiscated by police, said Mqala.

A source said one of the victims may have been alive when he was thrown over the 100m cliff.

Earlier yesterday in a different court, all seven accused told magistrate Rochelle Sam they would need Legal Aid representation.

They indicated they would apply for bail, and the matter was transferred to the bail court late yesterday.

The state indicated it would oppose bail.

It will argue that the killings were premeditated and therefore the offences fall under schedule six, making bail a tough proposition.

Cesar yesterday postponed their bail application to May 3. — asandan@dispatch.co.za