A man accused of the rape and murder of a teenager Anene Booysen has been denied bail in the Bredasdorp Magistrates Court.
Jonathan Davids, 22, denied guilt in the February 2 attack on Booysen, 17.
“There would have been a huge outcry if he was granted bail,” Eric Ntabazalila, regional spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told AFP.
As she lay dying in hospital, Booysen named Davids as having attacked her with “about five to six” friends in a case that shocked even this rape-weary nation.
Booysen suffered gruesome injuries and was found with her internal organs hanging outside her body on a construction site.
“The intestines came out through her reproductive organs,” said Ntabazalila.
A second accused Johannes Kana, 21, has confessed to raping and assaulting Booysen but not to her murder. He has not yet applied for bail.
“He did not confess to murder,” Ntabazalila added.
Clothing and a pair of sneakers, with signs of blood and semen, have been sent for forensic tests.
The police investigation is continuing.
Booysen's murder and rape sparked an outcry in South Africa where around 65 000 sexual offences are committed a year, according to official figures.
She was attacked after visiting a pub and found by a security guard at a construction site. She later died in hospital.
The case has been postponed until April. - AFP