Doreen Mokgolo
Bokgabo Poo’s murder accused abandoned his bail application during his third appearance at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning.
Ntokozo Zikhali is still not saying a word about who his accomplices in the murder of the four-year-old girl are.
The Poo family believes the missing body parts were sold on the black market for muthi.
The accused’s lawyer asked the court to postpone the matter as they are still trying to get outstanding information from the accused.
The matter was postponed to 14 February 2023 for further investigation. Zikhali will remain in police custody.
The suspect appeared regarding the five charges relating to Bokgabo’s case which are kidnapping, rape, murder, defeating the ends of justice and violating a corpse.
He also appeared regarding the rape of a nine-year-old girl last year.
The state withdrew their application to revoke the accused’s bail he received for that rape case and Zikhali is remanded in police custody until his next appearance.
The minor rape victim was only able to positively identify the suspect three months after the suspect was granted bail and DNA evidence also positively linked him to the incident.
Bokgabo’s mother, Tsholofelo Poo, said she believes the postponement of the case to next year February is fair to give the police and the accused’s legal representative enough time to put pressure on him to disclose the details of the incident.
“At some point he will crack and start talking. He will tell us why he killed her and who is his accomplice. This will give us closure,” she said.“
I am happy that he has abandoned his bail application. This means another child’s life is spared.”
The four-year-old Bokgabo went missing while playing in a park near her home two weeks ago in Wattville, Ekurhuleni.
Parts of her body were discovered a day after she was reported missing by a pensioner Leah Khosa in her backyard while cleaning her yard.
The rest of her body was found defaced and dumped in an open veld 800 metres from Leah’s home.
Photo above: Suspected murderer Ntokozo Zikhali
Photo credit: Doreen Mokgolo
