MBOMBELA – The swift arrest of five suspects in the alleged kidnapping of a day-old baby from Rob Ferreira Hospital, has been followed by numerous postponements pending further investigation. The matter was postponed again on Monday and the accused will appear in court on November 27. The newborn son of 16-year-old Martha Mandlazi went missing from the hospital on August 30 while he was asleep next to his mother.
On September 5, Mr Ananias Ndzimba (27) and Mr Julius Sithole (25) were arrested in Mbombela’s CBD. Mr Phineas Sono (35), a J&M security guard, his wife, Ms Portia Ncube (31) and his nephew, Mr Aaron Moyo Nyoni (20) were arrested the following day at Mataffin. According to Sono, they were arrested because they were linked to the two Mozambican accused because the cellphone that the latter had allegedly used to arrange the kidnapping, is registered in his name and was previously used by his nephew.
The five accused applied for bail during their first court appearance on September 15, but the application was postponed to the following Monday. On September 22, Sono, Ncune and Nyoni were granted bail but had to be back in court as the trial was scheduled to start on October 15. Ndzimba and Sithole’s bail application was postponed once again as their legal status in our country could not be confirmed, which complicated the process of granting bail. They are still in custody.
All five the accused appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on October 15, when state prosecutor Mr Oupa Ndlovu requested that the case be postponed again as the police needed more time to investigate. When the accused returned to court, the case was postponed for the same reason.
Magistrate Mr Danie Pienaar granted 10 days’ postponement and ruled that bail be extended to Sono, Ncube and Nyoni, while Ndzimba and Sithole remain in custody.
Members of the ANC Women’s League who attended the postponement indicated that they supported the SAPS in their investigation and knew that they were trying their best.
