The murder trial of 10 suspects accused of killing Thorisho Themane has been postponed to January 2021.
The 28-year-old Themane was assaulted at a park in Flora Park in February 2019. He later succumbed to his wounds in hospital.
His killing made headlines when videos of his assault went viral on social media. Some of the teenagers arrested for his murder were seen bragging during the incident on the footage.
Two adults and eight teenagers appeared in the High Court in Polokwane for the murder on Monday.
The trial was postponed again due to the absence of the defence lawyer representing accused number three. South African law requires that minors on trial appear and be represented together.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) representative Nkhetheni Munyani says, “It was a brief appearance, all 10 accused were before the court. The reason the matter was postponed to a future date this morning was because the court was informed that one of the legal representatives for one of the accused persons was not available because of ill health and that is the reason why the matter was postponed.”
Last week, the court was informed of the death of one of the young suspects. He died months after Themane’s killing.
Delays unwelcome
Themane’s murder prompted a movement called Justice For Thorisho, which led to a foundation being created in his memory.
Kevin Pohotona of the Thorisho Themane Foundation says they are not happy with the postponement.
“We certainly aren’t happy with how things transpired within court, we could have disputed the matter. In terms of, well, going against the whole postponement to start with, because there are two state witnesses that have turned. We understand and agree that the youth or the minors have to appear together and jointly,” says Pohotona.
The matter is now scheduled to sit between the 18th and 22nd of January 2021.
In the video below, 10th suspect arrested in Thoriso Themane’s murder case:
