#ShackFire: State must find a way to speed up its investigations of victims killed in the shack fire in Alexandra
ALEXANDRA – The state requested a lengthy postponement to allow investigations to be completed in the case against a woman accused of killing four family members in a fire she allegedly started.
The state was denied a lengthy postponement in the case against a woman accused of killing four family members in a fire she allegedly started.
Mpho Vanessa Sedimela appeared briefly before Magistrate Renier Boshoff in the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court on 11 May. She is facing four counts of murder and one of arson.
Sedimale is accused of starting a fire that claimed the lives of Sisona Nibe (8), Mpumelelo Nibe (5), Xolelwa Dyantyi (29) and Nelisiwe Mqongo (16) in April. The accused is understood to be the girlfriend of the father of the two young deceased, Sisona and Mpumelelo Nibe.
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Addressing the court, state prosecutor Lufuno Maphiri told the court that the state needed more time to complete its investigation. Maphiri asked the court to postpone the matter to September but Boshoff said the court could not grant such a lengthy postponement and asked the state for its reasons.
The prosecutor responded that investigations would take a lot of time to conclude as four people were burnt beyond recognition in the fire. Post-mortem reports were still outstanding and the state also needed to consult with fire experts to determine, among other things, the substance that was used to start the fire. Furthermore, the Director of Public Prosecutions still has to decide on the forum where the matter will be heard, whether it will continue in the Alexandra Regional Court or if it will be transferred to the High Court in Johannesburg.
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Boshoff maintained that the state will have to find a way to speed up its investigations.
The defence attorney agreed with the magistrate. Sedimela is now represented by a private attorney who told the court that he intends to apply for bail as his client was previously represented by a Legal Aid attorney and the bail application was abandoned at the time.
The case has been remanded to 29 June for further investigations.
