Woman accused of killing fiancé has her bail hearing postponed after power outage
Murder suspect, Siphumeze Nangu, accused of stabbing to death her fiancé in Zwelitsha on February 1, will have to wait until the beginning of next month to formally apply for bail.
Nangu, 25, has been in police custody since her arrest on February 1.
She was arrested after she allegedly stabbed her fiancé, Mkhanyisi Bana, 36, during a heated quarrel in the early hours of February 1.
Bana, a fitness fanatic, bootcamp instructor and a cricket enthusiastic, worked as an administration official at the provincial police headquarters at the time of his death.
Nangu also worked here.
Nangu was on Tuesday meant to lodge a formal bail application at the Zwelitsha magistrate’s court. However her application was postponed by magistrate Nokwanda Nkume to March 1.
Nkume postponed the bail hearing after it transpired that there was no electricity connection at the court house, and proceedings could not be recorded as a result.
During her brief court appearance, Nangu cut a lonely figure in the dock.
She was the only woman suspect among more than 20 men who had appeared before Nkume.
Since her arrest, Nangu has been kept at the women’s section of the East London prison and during her appearance on Tuesday, she was escorted to court by a single police officer, while her hands were handcuffed.
While in the dock, she did her best to conceal her face in a bid to prevent her picture being taken.
During her first court appearance on February 4, Nangu’s bail application was postponed to March 1.
However her defence team applied for the matter to be heard on an earlier date, an application later granted.
She was meant to apply for bail last week, but the matter could not sit due to the non-availability of the investigating officer and roll congestion at the court where she was supposed to apply for bail.
On account of this, the matter was postponed to Tuesday, but was not to be due to a lack of power in the township outside King William’s Town.
“After you had made an application for your bail hearing to be heard earlier than it was scheduled, we were hoping to squeeze it in our congested court roll today.
“We were hoping that we would have electricity today, but it seems we will again not be able to proceed due to no electricity here,” Nkume told Nangu...
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