The bail appearance of the man accused of the rape and murder of 11-year-old Relebogile Segami was postponed until September 22 for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide on whether to transfer the case to the Northern Cape High Court or not.
THE BAIL appearance of the man accused of the rape and murder of 11-year-old Relebogile Segami was postponed until September 22 for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to decide on whether to transfer the case to the Northern Cape High Court or not.
Itumeleng Machabe, 24, appeared before the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he was supposed to apply for bail after the matter was postponed on July 8.
Machabe is also facing a further charge of raping a 15-year-old girl.
The postponement submission was made by the State, which submitted to the DPP for the referral of the case.
The State made reference to the fact that due to the matter being a high-profile case and in the public’s interest, a decision needs to be made in the absence of the outstanding DNA results.
Machabe has remained in custody since his arrest after Relebogile’s naked body was found in the veld near the Northern Cape Legislature on March 31.
It has been revealed in court that four DNA samples were sent to the lab in Cape Town, of which only one of the results has been released.
Magistrate Jerry Tsatsimpe clarified that the released DNA results were inconclusive.
Machabe’s legal representative, Chwaro Kgotlagomang, argued with the State as to why the case should be postponed based on the decision of the referral to the high court.
He highlighted that an agreement was reached on July 8 that his client would be released if the DNA results were not available.
The defence proposed that Section 342a be applied for the DPP to investigate the delay to the release of the results.
Section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 requires that an investigation be done and that a finding regarding the delay be made.
Kgotlagomang wanted the State to give assurance that the investigations will be completed, including the DNA results.
Kgotlagomang proposed that the DPP investigate the delays in the DNA results in order to make the decision on whether to withdraw the case, refer it to the high court or to the current court.
Kgotlagomang made reference to the fact that the bail application has been dragging on for weeks without any solutions.
He reminded the court that previous postponements were solely due to the pending DNA results.
He emphasised that the DPP needs to probe whether the investigations on the case were completed or not, and what the delays were.
The State clarified that the proposal for the postponement is not based on delays in the investigation or the DNA results, but on the decision of the DPP to refer the matter.
The magistrate questioned the defence on whether this proposal was not premature.
Tsatsimpe said Section 342A can only be granted if the State proposed for a postponement due to the pending DNA results,
He ruled that it would be inappropriate, under the circumstances, for him to conduct investigations into the delays in the investigations, whereas there is no application being made for postponement due to the mentioned delays.
“An application for Section 342A ought to have been made if the State was making an application for postponement based on an investigation. But this is not the issue. The application that is in court is for the request of postponement to have the matter referred to the DPP, for the DPP to make a decision,” said Tsatsimpe.
“It is common course that this court does not have the jurisdiction to have a trial of this nature.
“Therefore the court, in terms of Section 342A, is limited to make such an enquiry and has no jurisdiction to trial murder or rape cases referred.
“This court has no power and jurisdiction to trial a rape and murder case of this nature. My limitations as far as conducting an enquiry in terms of Section 342A only relates to delays in the investigations, and not the entire finalisation of the matter,” explained Tsatsimpe.
Machabe will remain in custody until his next court appearance on September 22.
