LISTEN | Uyinene Mrwetyana's killer Luyanda Botha to stand trial for decade-old attempted rape case

Convicted killer Luyanda Botha on Tuesday failed to persuade the Wynberg magistrate's court to strike a previous attempted rape case against him off the roll.

The former post office worker is serving three life sentences for the rape and murder of former University of Cape student Uyinene Mrwetyana in 2019. However, he has returned to the dock for an unrelated attempted rape case dating to 2014.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: “There is a case for him to answer, that's why his application for the case to be thrown out failed.”

The complainant, who attended a nursing college in Athlone at the time, accused Botha of attempted rape while she was showering in the college residence bathrooms.

Magistrate Anthea Ramos rejected Botha's application, under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, to have the case thrown out. The section makes provision for an accused to be discharged from an offence should a court find there is no evidence linking them to the offence.

Botha submitted his heads of argument last week for the charges to be dropped.

Ramos said there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

“There is evidence which links him to the case. In [his heads of argument] he did not dismiss that he was present at that building on the day and the state would be able to prove our case in court,” said Ntabazalila.

The case was postponed to August 2 and 6.

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