Sex workers and ActionSA members outside the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court as the man accused of murdering 6 sex workers is expected to apply for bail, 18 October 2022. Photo: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Crowds in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court were visibly annoyed after alleged administrative hiccups delayed proceedings.
The 20-year-old man facing one count of murder in connection with six decomposing bodies found in a building in the Johannesburg CBD is expected to apply for bail on Tuesday.
He first appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court last week.
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The State said on Tuesday the suspect refused to do an ID parade without his lawyer.
This was disputed in court, with his legal representative saying the ID parade was meant to take place on Friday, but was moved to Sunday.
The lawyer said the person meant to conduct the ID parade was in church on the Sunday in question.
This angered women in the gallery, who shouted “Why is he allowed to cover his face?”
The crowd was warned that if people continued to be unruly, they would be forced to leave the court.
The magistrate presiding over the case was also agitated due to the State not having its letter for the application to move the suspect from Sun City police station to Johannesburg Central station.
The case has been postponed to 25 October.
The bodies of suspected sex workers were found semi-naked, with their heads covered and their hands tied behind their backs earlier this month.
Police were called to the building after a foul smell came from one of the rooms. It was there were the first body was found, of a woman who went missing earlier this month.
People who work in the area where the bodies were found described the alleged killer as someone very quiet.
“He was always having headsets on, very quiet and we never really knew him,” Msizi Khumalo, one of the people who work in the area, told The Citizen.
“We never saw him entering with any woman. No one could have suspected he could be capable of such a horrific crime.”
A person who runs a car wash next to the building where the bodies were found said the man used to bring his car to him and would never say a word.
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Updates to follow as court proceedings continue.
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