Friends of the man suspected of kidnapping and killing Johannesburg student Leigh Matthews packed a Randburg court on Friday where it was announced that his bail application would be later this month.
Donovan Moodley (24) who appeared more composed than at his first appearance, chatted with his fiancée and friends while waiting for magistrate Joe Kgomo to enter the court room.
Most of the group of about 20 people wore blue ribbons in a show of solidarity with Moodley.
One woman, who was close to tears, said after the hearing the friends were wearing the ribbons ”because we love him [Moodley]”.
Moodley will apply for bail in the Wynberg Regional Court on October 22. October 25 has also been set aside for the hearing in case it takes more than a day.
Moodley, who has until now been held at the Sandton police station, was transferred to Johannesburg Prison after his appearance.
His lawyer Louis Weinstein told the magistrate he had objected to Moodley being transferred to the prison. He said it was too far for one of Moodley’s witnesses to travel to, and under Correctional Services rules he was not allowed access to his client over the weekends.
Weinstein told Kgomo he would have preferred for his client to be kept in detention at Sandton, but the station commander had objected to this.
Kgomo told Weinstein that under the rules, suspects remanded in custody were supposed to be transferred to Johannesburg Prison.
Weinstein said he understood this, but warned the defence might not be ready for the bail application if he was not permitted to consult with Moodley over the weekend.
Moodley, who wore a short-sleeved blue-and-white-checked shirt and black trousers, sported a beard and spectacles. His hands were cuffed.
After the magistrate postponed the case, Moodley touched the hands of his fiancée and some of his smiling friends, who were sitting on the front bench in the court, while walking down the stairs to the holding cells.
While a large media contingent waited for Moodley at the back of the court, a friend of his handed a plastic bag containing clothes to Superintendent Piet Byleveld, who was instrumental in the arrest, and asked him to give it to Moodley.
Moodley, who stared at reporters and photographers, was then whisked away in a Mercedes-Benz driven by Byleveld.
Moodley is facing charges of murder, kidnapping, extortion, and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Senior Randburg prosecutor Pieter Erasmus told reporters after the proceedings the case had been transferred to Wynberg because the bail application had to be heard in a regional court and the roll at Randburg was full.
He said the case would then be moved back to Randburg. The trial would eventually be heard the Johannesburg High Court.
Moodley, from Brackenfell, Alberton, was arrested in the town on October 4, after nearly three months of intensive police investigations.
He was a student at Bond University in Sandton, the same institution that Matthews attended.
Matthews disappeared from outside the university on July 9 — the day before she was to have celebrated her 21st birthday.
The case captured the attention of the entire country and a massive search was conducted for her.
Her body was found 12 days later by a municipal worker cutting grass in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg. She had been shot.
Matthews’ parents did not attend Friday’s hearing and have been advised not to attend the bail hearing because they could be potential witnesses. – Sapa