Annatjie Myburgh accused finally stand trial
The trial started on Monday and will continue next week.
GRASKOP – Annatjie Myburgh’s murder trial started on Monday at the Graskop High Court, more than two years after she was kidnapped and found dead.
Her husband Wendell, son Wendell Jr, daughter Marlize Rossouw and son-in-law are attending the proceedings faithfully and besides them the only other attendee is a family member of one of the accused.
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Selby John Mabila and Paul Mathebula have been in custody since June 2016.
Officers started the trial and policemen who were on the scene took to the stand to testify on the happenings that shook the Lowveld community.
A trial within a trial commenced with others questioning if the policemen were voluntarily testifying and if their statements could be regarded as trustworthy.
The trial was originally set to commence in Hazyview, but due to a lack of appropriate resources had to be moved to Graskop.
The most of Wednesday’s sitting was spent examining and cross-examining expert witness, Capt Ivan Swart. He is the forensic specialist who took plaster casts of the footprints at Myburgh’s home after her disappearance.
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He was also the one who booked in the shoes of both accused after their arrest, and kept record of both the shoes and the casts.
According to the prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen, they have booked the courtroom for this week as well as the next hoping for a finalisation of the trial.
Myburgh disappeared from her home in White River on June 15, 2016. Her vehicle was also missing and the initial thought was that it was a hijacking and kidnapping.
Community members united and searched through the whole of the Lowveld to find her. They held prayer groups at Casterbridge, did diving operations in Klipkoppie Dam and left no stone unturned for three days, trying to track her down.
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Her body was found early on June 18, 2016 outside White River on the way to Numbi – in the bush.
Two suspects were arrested on two separate occasions. In 2016 it was alleged that she died of a heart attack caused by stress. The state pathologist is scheduled to testify next week in the main trial.
