The former boyfriend of the murdered 27-year-old Siphokazi Booi again appeared in the Paarl Regional Court on Tuesday (4 April) during which load shedding delayed the court case.
Pressure group Action Society has undertaken to oversee the court case and was present to witness proceedings, after which Ian Cameron, the group’s director of community safety, expressed his disgust outside the court.
“Today it is so frustrating, again, to see a community let down by a criminal justice system that fails ordinary people by letting perpetrators like these walk free in the end,” video footage shows him saying, “because the system does not work efficiently.”
Cameron highlighted the gruesome details of Booi’s murder, which took place on 4 September 2021, that caused a huge uproar and led to protests in the days that followed.
Booi’s body was dismembered, put in and then burnt inside a trolley bin.
Paarl Post reported before that Booi’s body had been discovered after a patrolling police vehicle was stopped by community members in Drommedaris Street near Mbekweni Railway Station on 5 September 2021 and a body burnt beyond recognition was pointed out to officers.
Sithobele Qebe was arrested in connection with her murder by Mbekweni police and has remained behind bars.
He said the next step was to rally the community of Mbekweni to the regional court again on Wednesday and today (Thursday).
The murder trial will reconvene in the Paarl Regional Court on Thursday 6 April.
• According to Cameron rolling blackouts have caused numerous delays to a majority of court cases Action Society oversees.
