The Port Elizabeth High Court is continuing with the postponement of all criminal cases, where the accused are in custody at St Albans Correctional Facility, after a detainee at the prisons remand centre tested positive for Covid-19.
A directive sent out last week by the prisons management to various stakeholders informing them of the situation said St Albans would not be taking prisoners to the courts until the test results of all the accused in the remand centre had been received.
The directive, confirmed by a court orderly, said no prisoners would be brought to court for a 14-day period while tests were conducted and results were pending.
High-profile cases including that of a former police constable charged with orchestrating the murder of her police officer boyfriend and a police reservist, and the trial of two men accused of the brutal murder of a Jeffreys Bay man, among others, will now only be heard from the week of July 13.
The trial of Remeo Booysen, 21, and Renaldo Kamoetoe, 27, who face charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances after they allegedly attacked Jonathan Zane Hayward, 29, outside Club Beachfront in Jeffreys Bay, was expected to continue on July 2, but has since been postponed to July 14.
It is alleged Booysen and Kamoetoe had attacked Hayward on April 29, 2017.
Hayward’s badly beaten body was found later that day about 90m from Club Beachfront, near a bottle store in Pellsrus.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Port Elizabeth High Court cases to be postponed again
Image: 123RF
The Port Elizabeth High Court is continuing with the postponement of all criminal cases, where the accused are in custody at St Albans Correctional Facility, after a detainee at the prisons remand centre tested positive for Covid-19.
A directive sent out last week by the prisons management to various stakeholders informing them of the situation said St Albans would not be taking prisoners to the courts until the test results of all the accused in the remand centre had been received.
The directive, confirmed by a court orderly, said no prisoners would be brought to court for a 14-day period while tests were conducted and results were pending.
High-profile cases including that of a former police constable charged with orchestrating the murder of her police officer boyfriend and a police reservist, and the trial of two men accused of the brutal murder of a Jeffreys Bay man, among others, will now only be heard from the week of July 13.
The trial of Remeo Booysen, 21, and Renaldo Kamoetoe, 27, who face charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances after they allegedly attacked Jonathan Zane Hayward, 29, outside Club Beachfront in Jeffreys Bay, was expected to continue on July 2, but has since been postponed to July 14.
It is alleged Booysen and Kamoetoe had attacked Hayward on April 29, 2017.
Hayward’s badly beaten body was found later that day about 90m from Club Beachfront, near a bottle store in Pellsrus.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
The trial of Nosicelo Kamba, 32, and her co-accused Lunga Mbondo, 34, who face a string of charges including two counts of murder, two counts of defeating the ends of justice and malicious damage to property, is expected back in court on July 16.
At the start of the trial, Kamba pleaded not guilty to all the charges while Mbondo pleaded guilty.
It is alleged that, between April 2016 and July 2017, Kamba and Mbondo had murdered Vuyo Matshishi, 36, and police reservist Melikhaya Nqono.
Nqono’s body, burnt beyond recognition, was found months later on the road between Peddie and Makhanda.
Just over a year later, in July 2017, Kamba allegedly asked Mbondo to help kill Matashishi after the two had a heated argument.
Matshishi’s badly burnt body was found along with his car near Peddie.
Matshishi and Kamba were both police constables stationed at Gelvandale police station at the time.
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