/ 6 January 1999

GORILLA MAN SLEEPS THROUGH TRIAL

ISAAC MOFOKENG (29), the man accused of shooting Johannesburg Zoo’s Max the gorilla, fell asleep during his trial in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. He has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including rape, abduction, housebreaking and malicious damage to property (Max the gorilla). Mofokeng has managed to delay his trial through bizarre behaviour including appearing in court wearing only a pair of red underpants. On Tuesday, Mofokeng removed himself from the courtroom again after which the magistrate warned him that the trial would continue on Wednesday with or without him. Having refused to speak to his public defender at every court appearance since last April, Mofokeng told the court: “I am not ready to say anything.” The trial continues on February 22.