A 41-year-old man accused of raping three of his children, two of which are minors, has abandoned his bail application.
He appeared in the Tonga District Court on Thursday, November 14. His legal representative told the court that the application was abandoned because the man did not have a physical address to provide to the State as part of his application process.
He was arrested on October 19 for allegedly raping his two minor daughters. The charges were later increased to three counts of rape after the police found he had allegedly raped his elder daughter, too.
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The court was also told that the man’s family stayed at a residence provided by his employer, who evicted them after the ordeal of his arrest.
“The accused has given me an instruction not to continue with the bail application because he has nowhere to go. He also could not provide an alternative address we could use for the application,” said his legal representative, Phumlani Ceko.
The man was remanded in custody and will be appear again in the Malelane Periodic Court on January 29, 2025, while further investigations are conducted.
Meanwhile, ANC members continued to support the family by attending the case, while some members remained outside, chanting struggle songs.
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Ehlanzeni ANC Regional Executive Committee member, Thandeka Dlamini-Makamo, said they were happy about the outcome.
“We are happy that he remains in custody, even though he was the one who could not apply for the bail. What makes us happy is the family will be safe without him. We also appreciate what the employer did because if he still had a physical address, he might have continued to apply for bail and maybe the court would have granted it to him. This gesture from the employer also shows that they care and we appreciate that. Let him remain in custody for the duration of the trial,” said Dlamini-Makamo.
