Pretoria - An alleged serial killer who targeted women in the Onderstepoort area in Pretoria North will undergo psychiatric observation for a month.
Dressed in a brightly coloured T-shirt and purple jacket, Andries Makgae appeared briefly in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday, where his trial was postponed to July 27.
Judge Mmonoa Teffo referred Makgae for mental observation at the Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria to determine if he was mentally ill and could stand trial.
The 53-year-old Makgae stands accused of raping and murdering four women, raping a sixth victim and murdering his best friend by setting him and his house alight.
He allegedly raped and murdered Maria Pilore, 60, in January 2012.
She was last seen leaving a tavern at a smallholding in Onderstepoort on New Year's day. Her body was found in bushes at a nearby smallholding on January 17, 2012. It was so badly decomposed that a cause of death could not be determined.
A second alleged victim, Juliet Mokgatla, 69, was last seen alive on February 4 when her husband sent her to a shop.
The State alleges Makgae raped and murdered her by strangling her with her own underwear before leaving her body in bushes on an Onderstepoort smallholding.
He is accused of murdering an unknown woman in the same area in December 2012. Police divers found her decomposing body in the Bon Accord dam on December 23. The cause of her death could not be determined.
Less than a month later, in January 2013, Praise Mpatsi, 29, was raped and murdered. Her decomposing body, with her underwear around her neck, was found in bushes in the same area on January 21, 2013.
She was last seen alive on January 3, when her husband left her at home when he went to work.
Makgae allegedly struck again a few days later, on January 14, 2013, when he allegedly broke down the door of a 44-year-old woman's house and raped her twice that night.
After he allegedly demanded money from her the next morning, she alerted her brothers, who arrested Makgae and handed him to police.
Makgae allegedly continued his murder spree on July 14, 2013
when he set fire to the house of his best friend, Sam Mufuleka, killing him. Mufuleka had apparently learnt that Makgae was involved in a woman's murder.
Makgae allegedly make pointings-out to the police after his arrest and accompanied them to where he allegedly killed the women.
He reportedly told police he had targeted women out of anger after finding out his wife was a prostitute.
Sapa