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Vlakfontein murder accused denied bail

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The man accused of masterminding the murder of seven family members in Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg, Fitha Khupe, has been denied bail by the Protea Magistrates Court in Soweto.

The 61-year old Khupe stands accused of the murders of the Khoza family in October 2018. He faces seven counts of murder.

His co-accused, Vusi Ernest Mabaso, who died in police custody in Cape Town in January, confessed to the murders as well as the rape of some of the victims.

Khupe will have to remain behind bars until the conclusion of his case after his bail application was denied by Magistrate David Mohango.

In his judgement, Magistrate Mohango said it would not be in the interest of justice to grant bail. He went on to say that Khupe poses a flight risk as he is not a South African citizen.

“Seven family members were killed, brutally so, for no apparent reason. I have no doubt in my mind that should Mr Khupe be admitted on bail, there is a likelihood that he may evade his trial. He is facing seven counts of premeditated murder. With each count carrying a prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment, (it) will never serve as an incentive for him to stand his trial.”

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the ruling.

“Well, we are glad that the court actually confirmed that it was actually a misdirection from the defence team to think that now that accused No.: 1 is deceased then the strength of  the state case has suddenly gone weak. We are glad that from time to time our courts come to such conclusions because this is the only way that the public can have faith in what we do as the criminal justice system. So, it is now up to the prosecution working together with the police to prepare now for the trial stage, now that we have jumped this hurdle of the bail application stage,” says NPA Spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.

The courtroom was filled to capacity with community members, carefully following proceedings.

Vlakfontein community member, Bheki Ndlovu says justice must be served.

“In this case, we would like to see justice being done because these people just killed innocent seven people and just imagine among those are young children, you see. So, we think this was the most cruel thing that was done to the people of Vlakfontein. We want him to sit behind bars because at the end of the day, we wouldn’t get to the truth as to why they killed these people because at the present moment we understand that the other accused committed suicide.”

The case will resume on 2 April.

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