THE case against five men accused of burning and killing seven people in Diepsloot in December 2023 was postponed to Wednesday, 20 March.
The group was arrested after the tragedy on 2 December that sent shock waves across the country.
The group appeared at the Randburg Magistrates Court on Thursday, 7 March.
The legal representative for accused one, two, and five, Jimmy Baloyi, told Daily Sun the case was postponed because the investigating officer could not bring the docket to court.
"The matter for the Diepsloot five matter was postponed because, for some strange reason, the investigating officer didn't bring the docket to court, so it was postponed to 20 March for the case docket," he said.
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Baloyi said the court postponement for minor things unnecessarily financially affects the community.
"It puts a strain on the community because each time they appear in court, we charge them, and they don't have those funds. The State must pull up their socks and tell us how far with the investigation so we can bring this matter to trial as soon as possible," he said.
Diepsloot community leader Lefa Nkala said they were saddened by the postponement when there is still one of their own in custody.
"We are very sad because, remember this gentleman is part of the community, he was arrested collectively with but the unfortunate part is that his papers were not in order as we all know he is foreign; he's from Malawi. Our legal representative is still busy trying to sort the issue of papers," Nkala said.
The four suspects who were granted bail on 28 December looked in good spirits in their clean clothes. As part of their conditions, the court ruled they must report to the police station every week, and they should not interfere with the investigation.
