Nicolette Dirk
A DELAY in DNA and toxicology reports caused a postponement in the bail hearing of the two suspects accused of murdering Zarah Hector, 33.
The mother-of-two was murdered in March and her body was found 10 days after her disappearance.
Tawfeeq Ibrahim, 26, and Ronaldo van Rooyen, 34, made a brief appearance in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s court yesterday.
Prosecutor Nathan Adriaanse said the DNA and toxicology reports were the only evidence outstanding and requested a postponement to obtain it.
Ibrahim’s lawyer, Patrick Vezasie, and Van Rooyen’s legal aid lawyer, who refused to be named, did not object.
Magistrate Vincent Ketye ordered the two men to be held in custody and that audio-visual remand be used to communicate with them while they were detained.
The audiovisual remand method has become standard practice, especially at Blue Downs Magistrate’s court.
The influx of prisoners being transported to court had given them an opportunity to try to escape, which some had done in the past.
Last month Ibrahim’s appeal for bail was denied after Ketye said Ibrahim had failed to prove exceptional circumstances to justify his release on bail. “Your personal circumstances are just commonplace. They are not of a degree that I can say they are exceptional,” the magistrate said.
In his bail application, Ibrahim tried to prove that his two children, aged two and three, were financially dependent on him and claimed he needed to be released to work to pay for legal representation.
Ibrahim and Van Rooyen have been charged with murder, defeating the ends of justice and aggravated robbery. It is alleged they conspired to kill Hector for her boyfriend’s BMW Z3 because she owed Van Rooyen money.
Adriaanse revealed in Ibrahim’s bail hearing last month that Hector’s head had been bashed five times with a hammer before her body was wrapped in canvas and dumped on a farm in Groot Drakenstein. The case was postponed to July 27.