Murder case postponed in Giyani
A case of Five foreign nationals who are facing charges of murder and attempted murder has been postponed last Friday by the Giyani Magistrate Court.
Sarfaz Yunus Patel (28), Sarfaz Patel (34), Ahmed Patel (26), Zuber Patel (25) and Khalid Patel (48) are facing charges of murder following the killing of Zimbabwean national Thomas Muthekwathekwa and attempted murder of his accomplice.
This comes after the deceased and his accomplice had apparently tried to rob their shop in Chachulani using a counterfeit slip.
During their first appearance last month they were given R20 000 bail on condition they move from Giyani to Thohoyandou for their own safety as the community was still outraged by what had happened.
According to Magistrate Cedrick Baloyi , the case had to be postponed in order to allow the forensic report to be completed in Pretoria to determine the exact causes of the death of Muthekwathekwa.”The court has to adjourn to allow the forensic report to be completed in Pretoria so that we really know what might be the causes of Muthekwathekwa’s death,” said Baloyi.
He also reminded the court that according to the constitution everybody is innocent until proven guilty by the court of law therefore the law still applies to the accused.
The accused were also ordered to report to Thohoyandou Police Station three times per week until their case is finalised.
The case was postponed until September 29 for further investigations and all the five suspects ‘ bail has been extended.
Family spokesman of the deceased, Bennet Chinhwa said they are not happy as a family because the case is taking long. “We are not happy as the case is dragging on for a long time. All we want is justice for our brother. We want the perpetrators to rot in jail,” he said.
