Anti-child abuse groups voiced their disgust after another delay in the court case against an 18-year-old suspect who allegedly brutally murdered an eight-year-old girl outside Plettenberg Bay last year.
The accused, Lulama Candandi, briefly appeared in the local magistrate's court on Monday, but was postponed until August 20.
The matter was set to be transferred to either a high court or regional court on Monday, but postponed as the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had not made a decision on which court the matter would be heard.
State prosecutor Henriette Breedt said that the docket had been delivered to the DPP office in Cape Town two weeks ago, but that she had been informed this morning that those in charge of making the decision had not been aware of the delivery.
Since his arrest in December last year, the case has been plagued by delays including a lengthy psychiatric evaluation at the Valkenberg Hospital in Cape Town - a request the accused made.
In the meantime Candani will remain behind bars until his next court appearance.
He was arrested in December last year after he handed himself over to Knysna police and showed officers where Sesona Bhayibhile's body was hidden. He allegedly slit her throat and dumped her body in a wooded area near her home in Bossiegif.
"We are disappointed that the case file has been sitting on someone's desk in Cape Town for the past two weeks, while Sesona's mother had to sit in court the entire morning only to be told this after 2.30pm. We would like to see this case moved to the high court as soon as possible," Plett Green Hearts spokesman Yvette Wilschut said.
Wilschut and several other residents, including Sesona's mother Binnie Bhayibhile, as well as members of Women and Men Against Child Abuse gathered outside the court building to take a stand against crimes committed against children.
Yolande Stander
Garden Route Media
