Public confidence undermined: laundry murder case

The court has thrown out the case because there was insufficient evidence against the accused

Antony Altbeker, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), says the outcome of the laundry murder case undermines the public's confidence in the police and the entire Judiciary. Earlier, the case against six people accused of murdering the laundry workers at a dry cleaning business in Three Rivers, Vereeniging, was thrown out of court.

Altbeker says when a case gets a high profile at the beginning and it does not result in a success, "that does tend to undermine confidence because it's a high profile case. You would think the institutions would throw many resources at it."

Reaction from the community has not been a good one. They have been very upset over what has happened in court. Members of the community are very upset and emotions are running high at the moment.

W Ewart, the presiding magistrate, has struck the matter from the roll because he says there is insufficient evidence against the accused. Charl Colyn and his daughter Isabel, Jacques Smit, Ruan Swanepoel, Jacob Dlamini and Samuel Mzizi have been released. They had been charged with the murders of Jocelyn Lesito, Victoria Ndweni and Constance Moeletsi.