Uyinene Mrwetyana murder: Alleged killer facing two rape charges

Evidence in the State’s case against former post office worker Luyanda Botha, accused of the brutal murder of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana, has resulted in him facing a second rape charge, the Western Cape director of public prosecutions said on Tuesday.

Advocate Rodney de Kock, leading the prosecution of Botha, confirmed that the investigation had resulted in a fourth charge being added.

He declined to elaborate, saying further details would later be revealed in court. The four charges that Botha is now facing are: Murder, two counts of rape, and defeating the ends of justice.

Magistrate Goolam Bawa on Tuesday ruled that Botha could be named as the investigation against him had been completed. He is accused of bludgeoning Mrwetyana to death on August 24.

Police Minister Bheki Cele, at the teenager’s funeral in East London, said she had gone to the Clareinch Post Office after operating hours on the day of her murder because Botha had suggested that she come back then.

She was then attacked.

Mrwetyana put up a fight, but lost her footing and fell. Her attacker raped her, but she continued to try and defend herself.

She was then bludgeoned to death with a heavy object, understood to be a scale.

According to Cele, the “perpetrator” confessed to then buying liquor and drinking as he didn’t know what to do with her body.

Her remains were found days later in Lingelethu West, burnt and buried in a shallow grave.

De Kock – the head of the National Prosecuting Authority in the Western Cape, who last year made the shortlist for the national director of public prosecutions position – confirmed that the investigation was complete and that the docket had been handed to Botha’s legal representative.

He is expected to be served with an indictment on Thursday.

The matter will be transferred to the Western Cape High Court to be heard on November 15, a decision which elicited cheers of agreement from the court gallery.

There Botha will confirm his plea to the crimes of which he is accused.

Advocate Bonnie Currie-Gamwo, the deputy director of public prosecutions, said the State had been in contact with the Mrwetyanas, who had expressed their satisfaction with the manner in which the authorities had been handling the case.

Her loved ones are expected to travel to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape when the matter is heard in the highest court in the province.

Botha, 42, is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. He has a conviction relating to a 1998 carjacking for which he received an eight-year sentence, of which five were served and three suspended.

According to police, he had also had an attempted rape case laid against him, which was subsequently withdrawn. He allegedly attempted to rape a woman at a nursing home while there to visit his girlfriend, Cele previously said.

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