Zolani Sibeko, accused of conspiring to murder Port Elizabeth school teacher Jayde Panayiotou, will not be spending Christmas at home this year as he was denied bail in the High Court here on Monday.
Advocate Peter Daubermann, representing Sibeko, had previously argued that there was no need for his client to disclose his defence as the State’s against Sibeko was non-existent.
However, Judge Irma Schoeman said that it was her view that the State could have a possible case against Sibeko.
“I’m of the view that the applicant has not shown that the State does not have a case against him in light of his failure to meet the case of the State that he was part of a conspiracy to commit murder and that he was in the vicinity of the deceased’s home, I’m of the view if the State can prove its case as set out in Swanepoels’s affidavit, confirmed by the affidavit of Vandala, there is a case against him,” said Schoeman.
According to investigating officer Captain Kanna Swanepoel’s affidavit placed before the bail hearing, Sibeko and a person named Khuselo Vandala were approached by alleged triggerman Sizwe Vumazonke to organise a firearm for Jayde’s killing.
Schoeman stated that the defence’s allegation that the State did not intend to call Vandala was disingenuous. She said that the “surprise witness” Vandala was in fact on the list of State witnesses but just not on the list Sibeko attached to his affidavit.
“The applicant has made no attempt to meet the [State’s] case that he had been at the complex where the deceased lived or that he had been involved in the conspiracy to commit murder by agreeing to obtain a firearm. The statement of Vandala shows that the applicant was part of a conspiracy to commit murder. It is not correct to argue that there is no necessity to disclose a defence.
“I am of the view that if the state can prove as set out in Swanepoels’s affidavit, confirmed by the affidavit of Vandala, there is a case against the appellant,” said Schoeman.
According to Swanepoel, at the time of Sibeko’s arrest during July this year, he denied all knowledge of a cellphone, but when the number was called the “hidden” phone lit up in his grandmother’s pyjama pocket.
“These factors are common cause because they were not denied by the applicant in his replying affidavit, the hiding of a cellphone and denying knowledge of a cellphone is indicative that the applicant might interfere with evidence if given the opportunity,” said Schoeman.
She further stated that it was important to take into consideration whether Sibeko would stand his trial, given that if he was convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
“I’m of the view that the applicant has shown no exceptional circumstances why he should he be released on bail,” she concluded.
The State alleges that Sinethemba Nemembe assisted Sizwe Vumazonke to kidnap and murder Jayde at the behest of her husband Christopher Panayiotou. Vumazonke, who was the alleged link between alleged middleman Luthando Siyoni and other hitmen, has since died.
Jayde was driven to a remote area on the outskirts of Kwanobuhle, where the alleged murder took place during April last year. The State contends Vumazonke fired two shots through Jayde’s back and a final shot through her head.
Sibeko was the last suspect to be arrested, 15 months after the murder. He was apparently placed – through cellphone mapping – outside Jayde’s complex in the days before her murder.
The trial continues in April next year.
– African News Agency (ANA)
