Komatipoort - The trial of 10 family members accused of assaulting a group of elderly people in Mpumalanga will be handed over to a new prosecutor and magistrate.
The accused were not asked to plead to charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm when they appeared in the Tonga Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, a Sapa correspondent reported.
“Today we were supposed to finalise the case, but due to some information raised during a meeting held with both parties we came to a decision to hand over the case to another prosecutor and magistrate to finalise,” magistrate Sibonisiwe Sibuyi said on Wednesday.
She postponed the matter to Thursday for it to be handed over to a new prosecutor and magistrate.
The 10 accused included Jabulani Nkomo, 43, and Louis Ngobeni, 62, who were re-arrested after failing to appear in court on February 13.
They were both released on warning along with co-accused, Zuka Simion Ndlovu, 62, Debu Masuku, 71, Selby Masuku, 25, Zanele Masuku, 29, Sandile Masuku, 24, Agreneth Masuku, 27, Xolani Ngwenya, 25, and Ernest Khoza, 22.
The 10 were arrested on May 4 last year after they were accused of assaulting five elderly men at a meeting at the Siboshwa tribal authority in Sibayeni village. They are accused of using stones, sjamboks, iron pipes and fists to assault the complainants.
Sapa