Hours passed as residents, colleagues and families waited to get a glimpse of the suspects involved in the three murders which shocked the community last month.
Their first appearance, which was scheduled to start at 9am yesterday morning in the Krugersdorp Magistrates’ Court, was postponed until 3pm as police investigations were still under way.
Both the suspects’ defence attorneys expressed their utter disgust at the way in which the state was handling the investigation and proceedings.
“Is this a witch hunt, because it doesn’t look like the state knows what it’s doing?” Advocate Da Silva asked the Magistrate when his client, the 29-year-old man who was arrested first, was not even present during the police’s identification parade.
The proceedings were delayed by nearly six hours as police held numerous ID parades yesterday.
In a surprise twist, a second suspect, a 32-year-old male (referred to as accused number two), appeared alongside accused number one in court yesterday afternoon.
Before the suspects were called to the stands, Magistrate Page addressed the application in which the media asked permission to take photographs of the accused.
Both Da Silva and Fourie (the defence attorney acting for accused number two) objected to the request. They argued that the investigation was at a very early stage and that history has shown how identifying suspects may negatively affect a case, but the Investigating Officer, Captain ‘Fires’ Masilela, did not agree.
The names of both suspects were mentioned in court and the public flooded Facebook with derogatory comments about the accused.
Although there are still pending arrests at this stage, the accused are facing a total of 10 charges each, including three for murder, three for robbery with aggravating circumstances, three for theft and one for kidnapping.
“We are standing together 100 per cent against the brutal incidents which have taken place in Krugersdorp this past month. Today we represent the real estate agents as a whole and we stand opposed to criminal activity in our community. This could have been any one of us and this is why we are here for Hanle today,” Christiaan Myburgh from Global Estates said to the News.
It is believed that another suspect will be arrested in connection with the murders shortly.
Both current suspects will apply for bail in the Krugersdorp Magistrates’ Court on 14 June.
