A man who is alleged to have raped and murdered two women – and attacking another teenager who survived her rape ordeal – at Mdantsane’s Daluxolo informal settlement in NU6 in May last year, had his case postponed to the 18th of next month yesterday.
The 43-year-old, who is accused of being the man behind the rape and murder of two young women, whose decomposed bodies were retrieved at the bottom of a cliff near the settlement on May 31 last year.
The accused, who appeared in court in leg-irons while two heavily armed correctional services officials kept a close watch during his brief appearance, also stands accused of raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
The teenager almost died as a result of the ordeal.
The Daily Dispatch had reported police as saying that the girl managed to flee from her attacker, screaming for help.
Magistrate Luyanda Gobingca said in court the postponement was to allow the state time to allocate a suitable date for the accused’s pending trial, on two counts of murder, rape and robbery, to be heard in the Bhisho High Court.
The man, who is accused of terrorising the settlement’s residents, was arrested on June 7 last year and has been in custody since he abandoned his bail application.
His arrest came a few days after he had allegedly raped the 14-year-old victim on May 31, before allegedly stealing her cellphone.
The gruesome discovery of the two bodies was made on the same day of the attack on the 14-year-old when members of the community, alerted to her screams, went in hot pursuit of the man.
The two women were believed to have been abducted and raped before their bodies were dumped in the bushes.
At the time the two bodies were discovered last year, police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi had told the Dispatch that the half-naked body of a young woman believed to be a school pupil was found lying next to the body of another woman – thought to be a security guard – with a stab wound to the neck.
Eyewitnesses at the time said the uniform of the security guard was found lying next to her naked body at the scene.
Mbi said that moments before the two bodies were discovered, the rape suspect had fled on foot in to thick bushes in a creek a few metres from the settlement.
He had allegedly attacked the schoolgirl inside an unfinished RDP house.
Hundreds of angry community members who had gathered at the top of the cliff, watching police retrieve the bodies at the time, had blamed a series of rapes in the area on an abandoned RDP project.
Ward 11 committee member Ntombiyakhe Sambane, 40, said four women had been raped since the project of 88 low-cost houses was abandoned in 2015.
“The unfinished houses are used as crime dens by the criminals.
“We have been pleading with Buffalo City Metro to complete this project or demolish these walls,” she said at the time.
Sambane further told the Dispatch that three young women were raped at gunpoint in 2015 by one man.
An eight-year-old girl was also allegedly raped in the same area in February last year.
“We heard the screams of the pupil and when we went to investigate, we saw a young man fleeing on foot down the hill,” she said at the time.
One of the community members who pursued the alleged attacker was Xolisa Nokoyo, a mechanic who was busy working on a car when he heard the screams and chased after the suspect.
“I found the suspect at the bottom of the creek where he drew a knife on me so I drew my size 10 spanner which was in the back pocket of my overall.”
Nokoyo said when he charged at the suspect with the spanner, he fled on foot into a thicket and was never caught.
“While chasing him, I came across the body of a half-naked girl wearing uniform near a stream.
“I stopped chasing the suspect and when I turned back, some of the guys helping me in the chase told me that they had just seen another body of a security guard,” he said at the time. — asandan@dispatch.co.
Murder, rape terror relived
The 43-year-old, who is accused of being the man behind the rape and murder of two young women, whose decomposed bodies were retrieved at the bottom of a cliff near the settlement on May 31 last year.
The accused, who appeared in court in leg-irons while two heavily armed correctional services officials kept a close watch during his brief appearance, also stands accused of raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
The teenager almost died as a result of the ordeal.
The Daily Dispatch had reported police as saying that the girl managed to flee from her attacker, screaming for help.
Magistrate Luyanda Gobingca said in court the postponement was to allow the state time to allocate a suitable date for the accused’s pending trial, on two counts of murder, rape and robbery, to be heard in the Bhisho High Court.
The man, who is accused of terrorising the settlement’s residents, was arrested on June 7 last year and has been in custody since he abandoned his bail application.
His arrest came a few days after he had allegedly raped the 14-year-old victim on May 31, before allegedly stealing her cellphone.
The gruesome discovery of the two bodies was made on the same day of the attack on the 14-year-old when members of the community, alerted to her screams, went in hot pursuit of the man.
The two women were believed to have been abducted and raped before their bodies were dumped in the bushes.
At the time the two bodies were discovered last year, police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi had told the Dispatch that the half-naked body of a young woman believed to be a school pupil was found lying next to the body of another woman – thought to be a security guard – with a stab wound to the neck.
Eyewitnesses at the time said the uniform of the security guard was found lying next to her naked body at the scene.
Mbi said that moments before the two bodies were discovered, the rape suspect had fled on foot in to thick bushes in a creek a few metres from the settlement.
He had allegedly attacked the schoolgirl inside an unfinished RDP house.
Hundreds of angry community members who had gathered at the top of the cliff, watching police retrieve the bodies at the time, had blamed a series of rapes in the area on an abandoned RDP project.
Ward 11 committee member Ntombiyakhe Sambane, 40, said four women had been raped since the project of 88 low-cost houses was abandoned in 2015.
“The unfinished houses are used as crime dens by the criminals.
“We have been pleading with Buffalo City Metro to complete this project or demolish these walls,” she said at the time.
Sambane further told the Dispatch that three young women were raped at gunpoint in 2015 by one man.
An eight-year-old girl was also allegedly raped in the same area in February last year.
“We heard the screams of the pupil and when we went to investigate, we saw a young man fleeing on foot down the hill,” she said at the time.
One of the community members who pursued the alleged attacker was Xolisa Nokoyo, a mechanic who was busy working on a car when he heard the screams and chased after the suspect.
“I found the suspect at the bottom of the creek where he drew a knife on me so I drew my size 10 spanner which was in the back pocket of my overall.”
Nokoyo said when he charged at the suspect with the spanner, he fled on foot into a thicket and was never caught.
“While chasing him, I came across the body of a half-naked girl wearing uniform near a stream.
“I stopped chasing the suspect and when I turned back, some of the guys helping me in the chase told me that they had just seen another body of a security guard,” he said at the time. — asandan@dispatch.co.
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