The bail application hearings of two alleged murderers will continue in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 12 December.
The court postponed the hearings of the two men, Songenzo Steven Sejakane (42) and McDonald Masithela (39), during their appearance on Thursday, 5 December.
The two have been unsuccessful in their bids to secure bail and have been remanded in custody since June after the police busted them regarding charges of gender-based violence (GBV), which claimed the lives of their respective lovers, Judith Mpho Moalasi (41) and Bongiwe Phulampa (35).
The two women’s murders happened in June at separate occasions.
Masithela stands accused of murder after, allegedly, stabbing Phulampa to death with a knife; while Sejakane’s murder charge relates to Moalasi, who worked at the Tsoseletso Secondary School in Bloemfontein.
Sejakane allegedly ran over Moalosi’s body multiple times with a vehicle at the crime scene near the G4S Mangaung Prison.
Sejakane is represented by a Legal Aid attorney, who questioned the authenticity of petitions opposing Sejakane’s release on bail.
The petitions were submitted by women’s rights advocacy organisations, which include Buang Basadi, and Man Up Ndoda, an anti-GBV men’s body. Sejakane’s attorney further objected to the petitions, saying the organisation did not provide reasons for denial of bail application.
Sejakane
Further to this, the attorney raised grave concern with the media coverage of the proceedings of the case against Sejakane, claiming that BloemExpress’ frontpage article about Sejakane on Wednesday, 4 December, was derogatory.
The attorney further questioned if BloemExpress was one of the media houses that applied to cover the murder case involving his client. Both Masithela and Sejakane objected to the presence of the media, citing the “reputational damage” suffered when their faces are shown on televisions and the photos publicised in newspapers.
Their application to have the media barred from covering the murder cases against them was turned down, as their cases have attracted huge public interest.
The unfavourable verdict in the application to bar the media was made during their first appearances on 26 June.
