The case of convicted paedophile and serial murderer Sipho Dube was postponed on Thursday because his lawyer, Jesse Penton, had to attend to his ailing mother.
Johannesburg High Court prosecutor Joanie Spies told the court that Penton’s mother was gravely ill in hospital and asked the matter to be postponed to next Tuesday.
This was not taken lightly by the families of Dube’s victims. One of the mothers, Nandi Kuwane, said the postponements were just adding salt to their wounds.
”I can’t wait for this case to be finalised. The longer it takes, the more traumatising it is.”
Kuwane’s son, Lukhanyo, was one of the six children murdered by Dube between May 2001 and January 2004.
Dube was found guilty of the murders of six children in Johannesburg and an adult woman, aged 38, whom he killed in Ladysmith.
He was also found guilty of 10 kidnappings, one theft, one robbery, one common assault and one assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Just before Judge Seun Moshidi postponed the matter, Dube, who had pulled his woollen hat to cover his face, addressed the court saying his constitutional rights were being violated by the media.
”My rights are being violated by photographers who constantly take photos of me whenever I walk from the holding cells to the dock,” Dube said. — Sapa