Sinoxolo killing: 2 in court

16 March 2016 - 02:33 By Philani Nombembe

The family of slain Khayelitsha teenager Sinoxolo Mafevuka is cautious about celebrating the arrest of two alleged rapists until they are found guilty.Two men, aged 21 and 26, who are related, appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on rape and murder charges yesterday. Police detained them on Monday afternoon.Mafevuka, 19, was found dead on March 2 in a communal toilet about 150m from her home in the SST informal settlement. She was half-naked and her head had been shoved into a toilet bowl."We will rejoice only once we are certain that it is them who committed this evil deed," said Mafevuka's cousin Sibongiseni Nzima."We do not want police to arrest the wrong people. We are appealing for co-operation between the police and the public to ensure that the real suspects are apprehended. We are hopeful the police will be able to crack this case."Mafevuka will be buried in Centane, Eastern Cape, on Saturday.Nzima said Mafevuka's mother Nowethu was struggling to come to terms with her death."She has not accepted what happened and has not eaten properly since," Nzima said."I have seen the accused in the neighbourhood. They live close [by]," he said.Magistrate Xolani Menyiwe postponed the hearing to Thursday next week to allow police to determine if the men hadprevious convictions and/or pending cases.Their lawyer, Thabo Nogemane, confirmed the men were related.He said they would plead not guilty.Police have been criticised in the way they have handled Mafevuka's case compared to how they dealt with the rape and murder of Franziska Blöchliger, 16, who was killed on Monday last week while jogging in Tokai Forest. The suspects in her case appeared in court four days later.Nzima said police took statements from the family only after Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu intervened on Thursday.Sotyu lashed out at police, saying their handling of the case could be misconstrued to mean that "black lives are not valuable"...

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