Tears and cheers as man accused of killing Eskom employee denied bail

There were tears‚ loud cheers and embraces as David Ngwenya‚ the man accused of the murder of Eskom employee Thembisile Yende was refused bail by the Springs Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Magistrate Cornell Pretorius found that Ngwenya‚ 44‚ had not proved that there were exceptional circumstances that warranted his release on bail.

"The evidence adduced by the applicant [Ngwenya] falls short of satisfying this court that exceptional circumstances exist..."

She said if Ngwenya was released on bail‚ he would evade trial.

"The state argued that there is a strong case against the applicant. I agree with this submission.

"The applicant faces the possibility of life imprisonment should he be found guilty‚" Pretorius said.

She said the evidence led in court on how Ngwenya was linked to the commission of the offence‚ was corroborated by the results of the post-mortem.

Family and friends of Thembisile embraced each other after Pretorius refused Ngwenya bail.

They burst into song as soon as they left the court building.

The group‚ including ANC and DA supporters‚ were joined by Thembisile's mother Nesta as they chanted songs calling for the arrest of more suspects.

"V*k man‚ f**k man‚ sifuna ababulali [We want the murderers]‚" the group sang.

Nesta said although she was pleased by the judgment‚ she would be "happier" when the truth came out.

"I am happy. I will be much happier when justice is served‚"

Mboneni Yende‚ the family's spokesperson‚ said the outcome of the bail application did not mean victory for them. "We are not declaring victory. This was just a bail hearing. However‚ it was important for us to know whether he is getting bail or not.

"As the Yende family‚ to us this is just the beginning. We will fight to the bitter end to ensure that justice prevails.”

Thembisile's body was found 13 days after she had disappeared. Her decomposing body was found in a store room next to her office in Pieterboth sub-station in Springs on the East Rand.

Post-mortem results revealed that she was strangled and hit with an object on the head.

During Ngwenya's bail application this week‚ the court heard that a key witness had told the police that Yende was killed because she knew of Ngwenya's alleged copper dealings and was about to report his activities to Eskom managers. Ngwenya allegedly enlisted the help of a sangoma to ensure that he and his accomplices were "invisible" when they murdered Thembisile.

The court also heard that Ngwenya had been seeing Yende for more than a year and was a frequent visitor at the Pieterboth substation‚ where she worked.

Thembisile had been working at Eskom as a trainee technician. She joined the power utility in 2015.