Justice delayed in murder case against street kid

THE murder and rape case against a young homeless resident of Windhoek was postponed for a 13th time in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court last week.

Almost two and a half years after his arrest, there is still no indication when justice will be done in the case against Deon Engelbrecht, proceedings in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court showed. Engelbrecht was 19 years old and living homeless on the streets of Windhoek when he was arrested on charges of murder and rape on December 23 2003.It is alleged that he had raped a 14-year-old boy, Cristo Moshoeshoe, and murdered the boy by crushing his head with a concrete pavement block in Windhoek earlier on the day of his arrest.Since his first court appearance on December 29 2003, when Engelbrecht admitted to the presiding Magistrate that he had killed the boy after having had sexual intercourse with him, the case against Engelbrecht (now 21 years old) has been postponed 13 times.The matter was first postponed six times during 2004 for further investigations to be carried out, before another three postponements were ordered during last year while an application by Engelbrecht to be given State-funded legal aid was being processed.In February this year, defence lawyer Ivo dos Santos, whom the Directorate of Legal Aid had instructed to represent Engelbrecht, informed the court that Engelbrecht would plead not guilty to both charges.The case was then postponed again for the Prosecutor-General to decide what the further course of the matter would be.The case docket was, however, not forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor-General in order for that decision to be taken, Dos Santos told Magistrate Sarel Jacobs.Public Prosecutor Simba Nduna asked the Magistrate to postpone the case to August 24 for the PG’s decision on the further prosecution in the matter to be taken.Engelbrecht should remain in custody in the meantime, Nduna requested.Magistrate Jacobs however asked him to see if the case could not be returned to court within a week or two in order to see if Engelbrecht could be granted bail, seeing that he had been in custody for such a long time already.That is not a prospect that pleases the mother of the killed boy, Pauline Sekgonyana, who also attended the court proceedings.She had been waiting in vain for the last two years and almost six months to see justice being done in the case.In her view that would not include seeing her son’s suspected murderer being released on bail before he was tried, she said after Engelbrecht’s court appearance.Engelbrecht was 19 years old and living homeless on the streets of Windhoek when he was arrested on charges of murder and rape on December 23 2003.It is alleged that he had raped a 14-year-old boy, Cristo Moshoeshoe, and murdered the boy by crushing his head with a concrete pavement block in Windhoek earlier on the day of his arrest.Since his first court appearance on December 29 2003, when Engelbrecht admitted to the presiding Magistrate that he had killed the boy after having had sexual intercourse with him, the case against Engelbrecht (now 21 years old) has been postponed 13 times.The matter was first postponed six times during 2004 for further investigations to be carried out, before another three postponements were ordered during last year while an application by Engelbrecht to be given State-funded legal aid was being processed.In February this year, defence lawyer Ivo dos Santos, whom the Directorate of Legal Aid had instructed to represent Engelbrecht, informed the court that Engelbrecht would plead not guilty to both charges.The case was then postponed again for the Prosecutor-General to decide what the further course of the matter would be.The case docket was, however, not forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor-General in order for that decision to be taken, Dos Santos told Magistrate Sarel Jacobs.Public Prosecutor Simba Nduna asked the Magistrate to postpone the case to August 24 for the PG’s decision on the further prosecution in the matter to be taken.Engelbrecht should remain in custody in the meantime, Nduna requested.Magistrate Jacobs however asked him to see if the case could not be returned to court within a week or two in order to see if Engelbrecht could be granted bail, seeing that he had been in custody for such a long time already.That is not a prospect that pleases the mother of the killed boy, Pauline Sekgonyana, who also attended the court proceedings.She had been waiting in vain for the last two years and almost six months to see justice being done in the case.In her view that would not include seeing her son’s suspected murderer being released on bail before he was tried, she said after Engelbrecht’s court appearance.