The bail hearing of five men who face murder charges following the murder of Grahamstown resident Thembelani Qwakanisa was postponed for the third time in the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court today.
The bail hearing of five men who face murder charges following the murder of Grahamstown resident Thembelani Qwakanisa was postponed for the third time in the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court today.
The five men made a brief appearance in court today, 24 October for what was scheduled to be their formal bail application. Four of the men were arrested on 9 October in connection with Qwakanisa’s murder, just a day after his body was found wrapped in a carpet floating in the Zion dam in Extension 6. The fifth suspect, Thembani Onceya was arrested after he handed himself over to police on 10 October.
It seems Onceya is seeking to prove that he was not in Extension 9 when Qwakanisa was murdered. On the UCKAR Student Body 2016 Facebook page, a post encouraged anyone who had seen Onceya on the university campus the weekend before the body was found, to contact his lawyer. Onceya is a Rhodes University student.
“If there are any students who remember seeing Thembani Onceya on campus on Sunday 2 October, please contact his lawyer Mr [Basil] Williams on [email address] urgently. This is urgently needed for his bail application tomorrow [Monday] morning,” the post reads.
Onceya, 28, was the only one of the five accused who initially opted to apply for bail. However, on last Wednesday his private attorney Basil Williams asked for a postponement to today, 24 October to allow the defence enough time to gather enough evidence to present during Onceya’s bail application. Williams said the defence would be in a better position to move forward with the bail application once that information had been gathered.
In a surprising twist, Akhona Onceya, 28, Simamkele Onceya, 22 and Mzwanele Mali, 25, who had initially waived their right to apply for bail, changed their tune in court last Wednesday, saying they would like to apply for bail.
Meanwhile advocate Matthews Mpahlwa asked the court to issue an order to send his client Siviwe Gqotholo, 29, to the medical wing of the Waainek prison while awaiting the bail hearing.
This was after he had on Monday asked the court to refer Gqotholo to the district surgeon for a pre-assessment of his mental state.
In an application presented by Mpahlwa to the court on Monday, the defence stated that Gqotholo was not capable of understanding the proceedings so as to make a proper defence, adding that there was prima facie evidence that he suffered from mental illness.
The five men will return to court on Thursday, 27 October for a formal bail application.
anele@grocotts.co.za
