Cape Town - The murder case of 8-year-old Tazne van Wyk from Ravensmead was postponed to March on Wednesday, after the pre-trial hearing failed to get underway.
Moehydien Pangaker, 54, who is accused of raping and murdering Van Wyk, was slapped with 20 charges in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court last year.
Apart from his murder charge, he also faces 11 counts of rape, three counts of common assault, two counts of kidnapping and cases of incest, sexual assault and desecrating a corpse.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, said: “The pre-trial conference of Moehydien Pangaker, 54, was postponed to 19 March 2021 due to the unavailability of the accused's legal representative.”
EWN reported that Pangaker was not present for his first pre-trial conference last week due to apparent confusion among authorities about whether or not he was meant to appear.
The case was remanded until yesterday, where it was postponed again.
Van Wyk was last seen on February 7, 2020, when she left her Clare Street home to buy a sweet just metres from her house.
Residents across the Cape Flats went looking for the girl, who had mysteriously vanished, and child protection organisations took the lead and scoured fields, bushes and all surrounding areas night and day for two weeks.
The accused was arrested on February 17 in Cradock, Eastern Cape, and Van Wyk’s body was found on February 19 along the N1 highway outside Worcester in the direction of De Doorns.
The accused, a previous offender, was jailed for murdering his son in 2001.
Cape Argus