Pretoria -The 40-year-old man arrested in connection with the attempted murder of a homeless man in Muckleneuk earlier this year will have to be rearrested after the police failed to bring him to court within 48 hours.
Journalists from numerous media houses gathered at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Friday morning following an announcement by the police that an arrest was made for the attempted murder of a homeless person.
Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said a 40-year-old was arrested on Wednesday for the alleged attempted murder of another homeless person.
Concern regarding the safety of homeless men around Tshwane has been widely reported following the discovery of five dead bodies of middle-aged homeless men around the Muckleneuk and Sunnyside in the past month.
Fear spread among the city’s
homeless, with police advising homeless persons to sleep in groups for safety.
The discovery of the fifth body last week at a bus terminal 400m from Unisa main campus in Muckleneuk, prompted the Gauteng provincial police to put together a high-level investigating team to put a stop to the killings of homeless persons in Tshwane.
Homeless people in the Pretoria CBD told the Pretoria News they are sleeping in groups to protect themselves. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/African News Agency (ANA)
Makhubela stressed, however, that the arrest had not yet been linked to the five murders.
The latest suspect has been charged only with attempted murder.
According to the police, they managed to trace the suspect after speaking to a homeless man who opened a case this week.
“The man was definitely brought to the magistrate's court this morning and is scheduled to appear,” Makhubela said.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the authority would not be placing the matter on the court roll as the police failed to adhere to the Criminal Procedure Act.
Mjonondwane said the police arrested the man on Monday and yet brought him to appear before the court only on Friday, which was unlawful.
“They did not act within the prescripts of the law to bring him before the court within 48 hours, therefore we will not be placing it on the court roll.
"The police will have to reapply for his arrest.”
According to Section 48 of the Criminal Procedure Act, an arrested person must be brought before a court of law within 48 hours.
Section 35(1)(d) of the bill of rights states that an accused has the right to be brought before the court as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than 48 hours after the arrest; or the end of the first court day after the expiry of the 48 hours.
Meanwhile, transit centres that were to have been set up for the protection
of homeless people in the wake
of the spate of killings are
also nowhere to be found around the city.
Mayoral committee member for social and community development in Tshwane Sakkie
du Plooy said the City was doing
its best to speed up the development of a property identified for
use, but they did not want to
mention where the property was located, until everything was up and running.
Du Plooy said they were also pushing ahead with the refurbishment of No 2 Struben Street shelter.
However, that will take a bit of time before it was ready.
“The food bank has increased its cooking, but very few people have been turning up to them. The City never mentioned transit centres and that was something spoken of by the police,” Du Plooy said.
Efforts to get comment from the police regarding the progress of the centres or existence were not
successful.