AN ERROR by the state has caused another delay in the rape trial against alleged Ekurhuleni serial rapist Nkosinathi Phakathi.
The case has been set down for plea and trial on Thursday, 27 October in the Joburg High Court sitting in Palm Ridge, but the defence informed the court that it had not received all the dockets from the state.
Prosecutor Advocate Salome Scheepeers said it was a mistake on their part, but it had been resolved.
She said there was a total of 96 dockets and only five were erroneously not given to Phakathi and his lawyer, Lekau Kgokane.
“It has come to my attention that the defence is not in possession of five other dockets. They have been given to Kgokane to peruse and take instructions from the accused,” said Scheepeers.
Kgokane confirmed the arrangement and asked the court to postpone the matter to Monday, 31 October.
The 37-year-old is facing 203 charges, including 94 counts of rape committed in Benoni, Daveyton, Putfontein and Crystal Park in Ekurhuleni.
Phakathi’s nine-year reign of terror began in 2012 and came to an end on 17 March, when cops arrested him in Barcelona in Etwatwa on 12 March last year.
His alleged victims, all females, are aged between 14 and 44 years old.
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It’s alleged that he scouted homes where victims, mostly young girls, would be alone and pretended to be working for the municipality and taking on meter readings.
Some of the girls were attacked on their way to school.
Phakathi has been allegedly linked to the rape cases through DNA analysis and his modus operandi.
