Criminal trials postponed again
Several high-profile court cases set down for yesterday — including the sentencing of convicted murderers, rapists and the continuation of the trial of alleged human trafficker Pastor Timothy Omotoso — were postponed in the Port Elizabeth High Court.
A total of 22 criminal court cases were postponed to later dates — after already having been postponed to yesterday — while courts around the country await new directives on how cases will be handled in the context of the continued coronavirus lockdown.
Before court proceedings began, deputy chief justice for the Eastern Cape judge David van Zyl, state prosecutor Mujaahid Sandan and Legal Aid SA defence advocate Jodine Coertzen were seen surveying the courtroom and heard discussing the possible installation of Perspex panels at strategic points.
Approached for comment on the installation of such panels in the courtroom, and the reasons for this, spokesman for office of chief justice Nathi Mncube did not answer calls, or respond to WhatsApp messages and e-mails sent to him.
Of the 22 cases postponed yesterday, 19 are expected back in court on May 19, while the Omotoso trial as well as the trial of Mkhuseli Ngqanda, 29, Fikile Mengo, 27, Sinethemba Nenembe, 33, and Thanduxolo Vumazonke, 23, have been set down to continue on July 28.
Sandan said none of the accused in custody would appear in court yesterday due to lockdown regulations aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Though out on bail, Omotoso’s two co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, were not in court and had warrants of arrest authorised, but not issued, pending their next court appearance.
The three face 63 main and 34 alternative charges ranging from human trafficking to rape and sexual assault.
“Considering all the complications and in the best interests of justice the state requests the matter to be postponed to [July 28],” Sandan said.
Sandan asked judge Irma Schoeman also to postpone the part-heard matter involving Ngqanda, Mengo, Nenembe and Vumazonke to July 28.
The four are accused of housebreaking with intent to rob and the murder of Denise Webber, who was found strangled in her Port Elizabeth home.
All four pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Addressing the court after Sandan, state prosecutor Zelda Swanepoel asked Schoeman to postpone her matter involving three people accused of human trafficking and the rape of a 13year-old girl to May 19 as a provisional date to determine when the trial could start.
Two of the accused lived in KwaZulu-Natal which posed a problem considering the prohibition on interprovincial travel during the lockdown, Swanepoel said.
Other cases provisionally postponed to May 19 for trial dates include:
● Sentencing proceedings of convicted murderers Junior Lungisa and Sizwe Jika, who were found guilty in February of the brutal murder of Anne Smit, 86;
● The murder trial involving Wayne Russouw, his mother, Christine, sister Chantelle and Ronald Swartz, all accused of the murder of 70-year-old Petrus Scholtz.
Scholtz’s badly beaten body was found along a road in Fairview after he had allegedly been bludgeoned to death and kept in a freezer in July 2018;
● Presentencing proceedings of convicted murderers Mbuyiseli Pikoli, 37, and Vuyani Sifunda, 21, who were found guilty of the brutal murders of Tyrone Winston Jantjies, 52, Kenneth John Alexander, 76, and his partner Elaine Allwright, 78, and the attempted murder of Thembalethu Ndiyane, 23.
The crimes were committed between September 23 and 25 2017.
Both men have pleaded guilty.
● Sentencing proceedings of a 34-year-old Zwide man convicted on three counts of rape and the assault of his estranged wife.
The man was found guilty in January.