NELSPRUIT – The man accused of the murder of Mr Bossie Bezuidenhout now claims he is mentally ill.
He was supposed to stand trial in the North Gauteng Circuit of the High Court this week, but the case was postponed to July 21 so that he could undergo psychiatric evaluation at Weskoppies.
Bezuidenhout (44) was shot in his home in Shandon Estate on January 31, 2010 and Bossie’s Community Justice was established in his honour.
The accused, Mr Godfrey Sthembiso Shabangu (33) says he is mentally ill and instructed his attorney, Ms Illana Erasmus, to request medical attention for his so-called condition.
He was taken to a doctor the very same day and was expected to be transferred to Weskoppies later this week. Shabangu faces 10 charges ranging from housebreaking to murder that span a period from 2005 until 2012.
Bezuidenhout, his wife Karen and their children Lauren and Jarrod, moved into the house in Shandon only a week before his death. At the time Jarrod was asleep downstairs and Bossie went to fetch him when he came across an intruder. A struggle ensued and he was shot.
The cause of death was given as a bullet wound to the neck and cervical spine. Shabangu was finally apprehended in 2012, thanks to the persistence of now- retired Col Anton Crafford.
Having been head of the crime scene processing team stationed at Middelburg, he managed to lift a single fingerprint at the scene which finally linked Shabangu to the case.
