Cape Town – Three South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of assault and kidnapping of two men who have since disappeared, reports said.
Sibusiso Phetla and Jerome Lebaka who disappeared in Pretoria on January 13 were last seen at Salvokop military base, News24 reported.
The report said Sinovuyo Botha, Aviwe Dosi, and Sindile Ncomelo were charged in connection with Phetla and Lebaka’s disappearance.
AfriForum, which attended court proceedings on behalf of Phetla’s mother, alleged that a burnt body that was recently discovered could be one of the missing men, the report said.
“The prosecutor told the court that DNA samples have been obtained from the recently discovered body and the parents of one of the missing men,” the report quoted AfriForum spokesperson, Barry Bateman as saying.
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Bateman also alleged that two high-ranking officials were also linked to the crimes but had not been arrested, reported IOL.
“AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has been reliably informed that two of the country’s most senior generals have also been implicated in the crime, but despite instructions from the prosecutor for them to be arrested, this has not happened,” Bateman was quoted as saying.
The organisation also filed a service complaint against the investigator assigned to the case with the police, the report said.
“The unit was reliably informed that the detective had simply ignored several instructions from the prosecutor and as a result numerous aspects of the investigation were still outstanding,” Bateman said.
The case was postponed until February 8 2023.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
