One Suspect Granted Bail In Senekal Murder Case

Lawyers for one of the men accused of killing Brendin Horner on Thursday said they would wait for his DNA results in order to appeal the bail verdict.

Sekola Matlaletsa has been granted R5,000 bail, while Sekwetje Mahlamba has been denied bail.

This week the court heard how Matlaletsa’s DNA did not match the DNA found in Horner’s bakkie. Mahlamba’s results were inconclusive.

Lawyers for the defence argued that magistrate Deon van Rooyen erred in his analysis of the evidence before him, particularly on the allegation that Mahlamba was seen walking down a mountain at 6am on the morning after Horner was killed.

However Van Rooyen said that Mahlamba’s girlfriend was a key witness, giving evidence that rebutted his version he had spent the entire night with her.

There are also two independent witnesses who allegedly heard Mahlamba boasting about assaulting a white man at a farm and police found bloodstained clothes found at Mahlamba’s house when he was arrested.

Mahlamba’s lawyer says his client is aggrieved and will appeal the judgment.

Matlaletsa’s lawyer, Machini Motloung, said they were pleased with the court’s ruling, but believed Mahlamba should have also been granted bail.

Mahlamba’s lawyer said they were awaiting his DNA results.

The magistrate in the Brendin Horner murder case has refused to be swayed by threats of violence from farmers should any of the accused have been granted bail.

The matter was postponed to 1 December for further investigation.