Cape Town 'train arsonist' to spend 30 days in psychiatric hospital

Thobela Xoseni, the alleged Cape Town Metrorail train arsonist, was officially ordered on Tuesday to spend the next 30 days in the Valkenberg psychiatric institution.

During this time, Xoseni will get a mental assessment and be held there until his next appearance in the magistrate's court in Cape Town.

The 30-year-old will appear in court again on July 3 after his time in Valkenberg is completed.

Xoseni appeared in court on Tuesday for the second consecutive day and for the fourth time overall. The proceedings on Monday and Tuesday took place a month after the previous meeting, when the district surgeon suggested Xoseni be referred for psychiatric observation.

Xoseni, from Khayelitsha, is accused of setting two trains alight on Easter Sunday [April 21] at Cape Town station. The damage is estimated at R33m.

He confessed in court to the crimes in the first proceeding, where he bluntly stated: "I burnt the trains."