Icon’s grandson: bail hearing postponed
The bail hearing of a struggle icon’s grandson, who is accused of rape, was postponed in the Joburg Magistrate’s Court.
|||Johannesburg - The bail hearing of a struggle icon’s grandson, who stands accused of rape, was postponed to Tuesday when he appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
After a two-hour adjournment earlier in the day on Friday, the 24-year-old, whose full identity cannot be revealed until he pleads, walked back into the court, dressed in a grey T-shirt and brown jacket.
His attorney presented four affidavits to magistrate Pieter Du Plessis detailing why the accused should be granted bail.
Du Plessis took some time to read the evidence contained in the documents, also stating that the accused had a pending case against him from earlier in the year.
The Magistrate did not seem convinced and asked the defence attorney to clarify under what circumstances the accused should be granted bail.
In his affidavit, the accused claims he had consensual sex with the complainant, whose age was called into question during Friday’s proceedings.
His attorney told the court her Facebook page said she was born in 1999, adding that the complainant had told the waiter at the restaurant where the alleged rape took place that she was 18 years old.
Du Plessis responded that many things posted on Facebook were not true, and requested that the identity book of the complainant be brought to court on Tuesday. Her age may change what schedule offence the accused would be facing.
The accused was currently facing a schedule six offence, meaning the onus fell on him to persuade the court that he should be granted bail.
His attorney asked the magistrate for a postponement until Tuesday, August 25, so that he could submit an affidavit from another witness.
He will remain in custody at the Parkview police station until his next court appearance.
Earlier in the day, police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini confirmed that a man was a facing rape charge, but refused to release details before his court appearance.
The accused made his first court appearance on Monday after he was arrested last Friday.
The alleged rape took place on August 7 in the bathroom of a restaurant in Greenside, in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs. The complainant alleges that the accused followed her to the bathroom.
ANA