Man accused of slitting throat of boy remanded

Saziso Mbanjana, the East London man accused of slitting the throat of his ex-girlfriend’s son, will spend Christmas behind bars pending an instruction from the director of public prosecutions.

Mbanjana, 37, who wore a cloth face mask and buried his face in his hands to avoid media cameras, appeared briefly in the East London magistrate’s court on Tuesday.

The gallery was packed with Bhongweni township residents who wore T-shirts bearing the face of six-year-old Sinobom

Tywantsi, and called for justice to prevail. The child’s mother, Nandipha Tywantsi, was also in court. Magistrate Rochelle Sam postponed Mbanjana’s case to January 17, to murmurs of approval from the gallery.

Mbanjana was arrested in October after the gruesome discovery of Sinobom’s body in the bush near King Phalo Airport on October 4.

Sowetan’s sister publication Dispatch reported the motive for the brutal murder appeared to be a paternity issue. A group of residents and representatives of political parties picketed outside court.