One of the houses in the Ngobozana Settlement where 18 people were killed in a mass shooting in Lusikisiki. Picture: Gallo Images / Lulama Zenzile
The murder case involving suspects arrested in connection with the Lusikisiki massacre in the Eastern Cape has been postponed to November.
On Friday, three of the suspects – Aphiwe Ndende (Accused 2), Lwando Anthony Abi (Accused 3), and Bongo Hintsa (Accused 4) – made their first appearance in the Lusikisiki Magistrate’s Court.
Their court appearance comes after their arrests on Wednesday.
The first accused, Siphosoxolo Myekethe, was apprehended on 7 October in connection with the murders.
Myekethe, who abandoned bail this week, was out on parole for murder at the time of his arrest.
During the proceedings, all suspects chose to be represented by Legal Aid and also abandoned their bail applications.
Ndende revealed that, although he has no prior convictions, he was out on bail in 2022.
He failed to attend his court appearance at the Flagstaff Magistrate’s Court after relocating. He had been charged with murder at the time.
“I did attend after I was released, I only stopped going in April this year,” the suspect told the court in isiXhosa on Friday.
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The suspect confirmed that the murder case was on trial and that he has no other pending cases.
Abi disclosed that he has a prior conviction for attempted murder, handed down by the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court in 2012.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but served seven. He currently has no pending cases.
Hintsa, on the other hand, has a 2019 conviction for drug possession.
He was sentenced to three years by the Flagstaff Magistrate’s Court, but the sentence was suspended on the condition that he does not commit a similar offence.
“There is no pending matter, however, there are cases that were provisionally withdrawn then I was told that when the complainants show interest in the case I will be informed to go attend the case.”
READ MORE: Lusikisiki shooting suspect was out on parole despite murder conviction
Their lawyer, who arrived late, confirmed that “my instructions are to abandon bail in this case for now by all the three accused persons”.
The prosecutor requested that the case be postponed to 26 November for further investigations, as was previously done in the Myekethe matter.
Ahead of the three suspects’ court appearance, the South African Police Service (Saps) announced on Friday that they had recovered high-calibre firearms linked to the Lusikisiki mass shooting.
Two additional suspects were arrested in Flagstaff after being found in possession of the rifles on Thursday evening.
The firearms have been sent for ballistics testing to confirm whether they were used in the crime and to identify any other crime scenes they may be connected to.
On 28 September, a group of armed assailants stormed two neighbouring homesteads in Ngobozana village, close to Lusikisiki, and opened fire.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 18 individuals, with five others sustaining injuries.
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