The State says one of the men alleged to have raped and murdered Anene Booysen has confessed to raping and assaulting her.
|||Bredasdorp - The State says one of the men alleged to have raped and murdered Bredasdorp teen Anene Booysen has confessed to raping and assaulting her, but not to killing her.
Investigating officer Warrant Officer Edmund Abels told the Bredasdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday that Johannes Kana, 21, would not be applying for bail as he confessed to raping and assaulting Anene.
Outside court, NPA spokesman Eric Ntabazalila confirmed that Kana confessed to his part in the crime and that witnesses had seen him with Anene on the night of her murder.
Booysen was found on February 2, gang-raped and disembowelled, at a construction site not far from her home.
“He confessed his involvement in the crime and forensic tests are being carried out on his clothing and shoes. The State are still awaiting the results.”
Co-accused Jonathan Davids, 22, pleaded not guilty and his bail application began on Tuesday in a packed courtroom.
Police cordoned off the road leading to the court. There was also a heavy police presence inside court.
Davids took the stand and said he had been to the same pub as Anene on the night of her murder, but had only greeted her.
He said he left the pub with friends and went home. Once there he went to buy a box of wine and then drank it with his friends, before going to bed.
“I knew Anene very well and used to live with them for four to five months. My nickname is Zwai.”
Anene had allegedly uttered the name Zwai before she died.
Under cross-examination he said he’d heard of another person with the same nickname. “I heard that he is a 28’s gangster and lives in the Zwelitsha township, but I don’t know him.”
When prosecutor Maria Marshall asked him about scratch marks on his arm and neck on the day he was arrested he said he had fallen.
Davids told the court that he should get bail because he was not guilty.
Abels said Anene had pointed out Zwai as the perpetrator.
“Before she died she told three different medics that it was Zwai and his friends. And according to Anene’s mom, Zwai… is the only Zwai she had known. Davids lived with the family and according to her foster mother was like a child in the house. He lived with them at one stage.”
Abels said police could not rule Davids out as a suspect, and that possible blood and semen were found on his shoes and trousers.
Defence attorney Pieter Du Toit, Abels said he wasn’t sure whose clothes the semen and blood were found on.
“At the moment there is a strong case against the accused. We are waiting for the forensic results and can’t say whose clothes it was found on,” said Abels.
The court heard that Davids had a previous conviction from 2005 for theft, for which he received a suspended sentence of five years.
Also, three cases of assault had been brought against him, but had been withdrawn. Two of the cases had been opened by men and the third by a woman.
Cross-examined about another man with the nickname “Zwai”, Abels said police had searched for him. “We were told he left the area a month before the incident.”
However, he admitted police had searched for the second “Zwai” for only 30 minutes.
He also admitted that the only thing linking Davids to the case was his nickname and possible evidence on his clothes.
The bail hearing continues on Wednesday.
natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za
Cape Argus