Two relatives of Gerhard Kotze, 63, whose remains were found in a shallow grave in Pelzvale in June this year, appeared in the Randfontein Magistrates’ Court for a fourth time yesterday (14 December).
The presiding judge was Regional Magistrate Ettienne van Niekerk. Detective Warrant Officer Rupert van Zyl, the investigator in this case, was also present. Advocate Carel van Heerden is representing the accused. The Herald attended the proceedings.
The man (34) and the woman (believed to be middle-aged) appeared together briefly this the afternoon. The court had to wait for her to arrive as she was incarcerated at the Sun City Correctional Services and transport was delayed. The man was held at the Krugersdorp Correctional Services.
The man entered the court and while on the bench, spoke to his Advocate. He is thin, and was wearing khaki shorts, a T-shirt and takkies, and has long hair and a beard.
Once they were called to the stand, the case was postponed to today, 15 December, when the case will most likely be transferred to a High Court.
The woman applied for bail on 17 October after she was arrested on 27 September. Bail was granted but it was set at R10 000, which she could not afford, so she was incarcerated.
Today, she asked Judge van Niekerk if he could decrease her bail amount, to which he answered, “Only the Magistrate that heard the bail application has the authority to do that.”
The man was denied bail after his arrest on 1 June, the same day Kotze’s body was dug up. He has a wife and a child, and was staying on Kotze’s property. The woman also lived there.
On Thursday, 1 June, Kotze’s remains were dug up from a shallow grave on a plot in Pelzvale. He was first reported missing on 28 April, 2017, and after DNA results came through, was finally identified. Forensic experts spent numerous hours exhuming the body, which was transported to the Roodepoort Government Mortuary for the post mortem.
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