Update: #JusticeForLee: Case transferred to High Court
‘Today’s outcome makes us feel like progress has been made’
Relatives of the missing three-year-old Liyaqat ‘Lee’ Mentoor, were relieved when they heard that the case will be transferred to the Johannesburg High Court.
The accused in the case, the 29-year-old Onke Hartin Mashinini, appeared again in the Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court on 12 December.
Mashinini, who was the last person to see Lee alive on the day he disappeared (16 March), stands accused of kidnapping, child neglect, pre-meditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.
He appeared via audio visual remand (AVR), and the case was postponed to 13 December, after it was established that his advocate was not in attendance.
During his appearance, Regional Magistrate Delize Smith informed him that the docket had come back from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with instructions that the case should be transferred to the Johannesburg High Court.
She also said that he would be served with the indictment the following day, “with or without his advocate being present.”
When he appeared on 13 December, he was informed that he will be tried for murder as well as robbery with aggravating circumstances (the two cases are not related).
Mashinini will be transferred to the Johannesburg Prison (Sun City), where he will remain in custody until 1 February, when the pre-trial will commence.
Kaylah Mentoor, Lee’s mother, said that they felt relieved upon hearing this. “It has been a tough time for us, but at least it now feels like something is happening and progress is being made.
“We would like to encourage the community to, if possible, come and support us in court as we are not only doing it for Lee, but for every other child who has vanished without a trace,” she concluded.
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