The Middelburg High Court threatened to continue the trial of Thokozani Msibi, accused of killing 13-year-old Gabisile Shabane who had been living with albinism, without legal representation, if he fails to retain his new, and third, lawyer by then.
This follows what the court said was a third delaying stunt pulled by Msibi in an attempt to evade being prosecuted.
READ: Vosman kidnappers denied bail
On March 3, Msibi’s new legal representative, Musa Mavasa of Legal Aid, told the court about some disagreement during consultation with Msibi in preparation for trial. A week ago, Msibi fired his lawyer, Verner Smit, citing disagreements. Smit was the second lawyer to be fired by Msibi. “The court has decided you will have to represent yourself from when the trial starts to when it finishes,” said Judge Heinrich Brauckmann.
“This court has wasted enough time. I cannot allow you to keep changing lawyers more than you have done. This was the last time. You must remember that justice delayed is justice denied,” the judge said. The trial is set to begin from October 4 to November 12 this year. “If this date comes and you still have not decided who should represent you, the court will proceed with the trial,” said Brauckmann.
READ : Mpumalanga traffic officers taught the dos and don’ts during the 21-day lockdown
Msibi, Knowledge Mhlanga and Brilliant Mkhize are facing charges of murder, kidnapping, housebreaking with intent to commit murder and violation of a corpse after having allegedly abducting Gabisile Shabane and 15-month-old baby cousin Nkosikhona Ngwenya in Hlalanikane in eMalahleni in 2018.
They allegedly wanted Gabisile’s body parts for muti purposes. After killing her, they chopped her body parts and dumped her body in a shallow grave. Nkosikhona, who was thought to have been abducted by mistake as they allegedly thought he had albinism, too, was found drowned in a river under a bridge next to the N4.
The fourth suspect, Themba Thubane, who admitted to killing Shabane and pleaded guilty to all charges, is currently serving two life sentences after the court had found him guilty in August 2019, whereas the trio had pleaded not guilty. The delays have sparked fears among people living with albinism.
Mbongeni Zulu and Millicent Magadhle of the Melokuhle Albinism Foundation told Mpumalanga News their safety was not guaranteed. “We no longer feel safe in the community, because we don’t know if Msibi still has some people with whom he communicates to look for other people with albinism,” they said. “We want this case to be concluded so that the affected family can find closure.” The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it would not allow further delays. “As the NPA we view this as delaying tactics. We will not allow further delays because we want to bring this matter into finality,” said NPA spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa.
