THE five suspects accused of killing seven people during a mob attack in Diepsloot appeared in the Randburg Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 13 December.
They will spend more nights behind bars after their case was postponed to Monday, 18 December. The group is charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, damage to property, as well as contravening the Immigration Act.
Magistrate Ramanu Sadike said the case was postponed due to the unverified address of accused number five.
“The particulars of accused one to four have been verified, but only accused five hasn’t been verified. So, the matter will be postponed to allow the verification of the address,” he said.
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He said an identity parade will be done at the next court appearance.
Winnie Seisa, the girlfriend of one of the accused, said her life has become difficult since her lover’s arrest.
“I’m not feeling well since his arrest. Even the kids have been affected psychologically. I’m left alone. My boyfriend is the only one working and is the sole breadwinner. They now say they should verify the address. I hope they'll give them bail on the 18th,” said Winnie.
The mother of three said the accused did not kill the victims.
“They didn’t kill the seven people. It was the community. There's someone who hates the accused and pointed them from their homes because the incident happened at night.”
Community leader Lefa Nkala said the vigilantism could have been avoided had government listened to the people of Diepsloot.
“As a government, you can't do this alone (solve crime). You need the support of the community but unfortunately, they ended up politicising everything we're talking about,” he said.
“If they had listened to us, we could have avoided this situation (mob attack) and I’m saying it even now, people are still angry in Diepsloot. If they (politicians) are still stubborn, the country is sitting on a ticking time bomb,” said Nkala.
Gauteng police commissioner Liuetenant-General Elias Mawela said there is no permanent solution to reduce crime in Diepsloot until different government departments get involved.
