Durban - Three of the five people accused of decapitating a Durban prostitute abandoned their bail application in the Durban Regional Court on Monday.
Three of the accused are minors, who initially indicated they would plead guilty to the charges. Last Monday however they informed the court they intended to plead not guilty.
The other two accused, traditional healer Sivonkaliso Mbili and his assistant Vusumuzi Gumede, have not yet pleaded.
Mbili and Gumede were originally scheduled to apply for bail on Monday, but when proceedings started, only the three minors appeared. The three may not be named to protect their identities.
Their lawyer Avinash Bissesar immediately told the court one of them, a girl, was abandoning her bail application.
The other two, aged 16 and 17, were still at school in grades nine and 10. Neither had a criminal record.
Bissesar said one of the three children was hoping to go to university to study accountancy.
The State has opposed bail. Investigating officer Warrant Officer Ajith Singh said the accused knew the State's witnesses, who would not testify if the two children were released on bail. He believed they were a flight risk.
Magistrate Omi Singh was expected to rule on whether they would be granted bail later on Monday.
Earlier this month Falakhe Khumalo, 18, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the death of Desiree Murugan. Municipal workers found her body at Durban's Shallcross Stadium on August 18.
Khumalo claimed Mbili promised him R2 million in June 2013 for the head of a white, Indian or coloured woman. Khumalo said he and the minors lured Murugan to the stadium, where he paid her R100 for sex.
He said one of the minors stabbed her several times before her head was cut off. They took the head to Mbili, who allegedly dissected it and ordered Gumede to bury the tongue and brain in tins behind Mbili's house.
“They agreed to the plan because they also wanted the money,” Singh said of the three children.
Sapa