Witness D murder accused Sotheni’s case postponed to November

The case against Matipandile Sotheni, one of the accused in the murder of Madlanga Commission witness Marius van der Merwe, has been postponed to November 2 for further investigation.

Sotheni, 42, appeared before the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where the State raised concerns about alleged communication between the accused and people outside prison.

The State alleges that Sotheni was in possession of a cellphone while in custody and may have used it to communicate with people outside about the murder case.

According to the State, three cellphones were confiscated from a narrow space between Sotheni’s prison cell and a neighbouring cell during a raid at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre about two weeks ago.

The State claims that one of the phones can be directly linked to Sotheni and may have been used to communicate with a person or people outside the prison in connection with the case.

Sotheni is facing 16 charges, including allegations that he was the triggerman responsible for the killing of Van der Merwe, also known as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Van der Merwe was shot dead outside his Brakpan home in front of his wife and children, shortly after allegedly exposing high-level corruption within local law enforcement units.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, Sotheni also requested an isiXhosa-speaking interpreter, saying he could not properly understand the isiZulu-speaking interpreter currently being used in court.

The matter has now been postponed to November 2 to allow for further investigations.