30 days’ psychiatric observation for Metrorail arson accused

A bed has been made available at Valkenberg.


Metrorail arson accused Thobela Xoseni is to be admitted to Valkenberg psychiatric institution for observation for 30 days, a court heard on Monday.

The Cape Town Magistrates Court was told on 3 May that a bed had been made available at Valkenberg.

Xoseni appeared for the third time before Cape Town magistrate R Khan.

He is charged with contravening section 3(1) (a) of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act by intentionally damaging essential infrastructure. This follows the torching of several carriages in Cape Town station in April.

The matter will be heard again on 2 July after the observation period is over.

Senior Legal Aid defence advocate Mornay Calitz, who is representing Xoseni, told GroundUp that he was happy with the process.

“His name was far down the list but the authorities we worked with managed to prioritise his case,” Calitz said.

On 2 May the court ruled that Xoseni must be kept in the hospital until a bed was made available at Valkenberg, a psychiatric hospital in Cape Town.

Republished from GroundUp

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Read more on these topics

Arson Metrorail

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.