eSwatini court postpones extradition case of two AKA murder accused to June

The brothers are part of the group of seven men linked to the murder of Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane.

The brothers briefly appeared in the eSwatini Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for their extradition bid.

The duo was arrested in the capital, Mbabane, in March.

They are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Their lawyer, Sivesonkhe Ngwenya, raised concerns about the State's refusal to provide full disclosure of the docket in its extradition application.

Ngwenya argued that he needed access to the full docket to consult and accordingly advise clients.

Ngwenya further challenged the charge of illegal possession of firearms, saying they were not found with any guns when they were arrested in eSwatini in February.

However, State Prosecutor, Macebo Nxumalo, said the illegal possession of firearms charge against the respondents was a pending matter in South Africa - and it was not for an eSwatini court to determine the merits of the case.

"This aspect is a trial-related consideration and will be dealt with at trial. The respondents will have an opportunity to challenge and adduce evidence to the charges relating to the firearms, should they be found to be extraditable.

Nxumalo requested for the matter to be postponed to next month for arguments in the extradition.

"We agreed that the matter be set for arguments on the 14th of June, which is a month from now, it was agreed that the applicant will file its written submissions on the 20th of May (Monday), the respondent will file their heads of arguments on the 27th of May, it has also been agreed that the issues of the particulars will be addressed in the heads of arguments."

Meanwhile, an additional affidavit filed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions is calling for the matter to be treated with urgency.

"I support the request for urgency in this matter on the following grounds, the criminal cases are already pending before the South African court and will be delayed in their finalisation should the extradition inquiry  of the respondents not be dealt with within a reasonable time. Thirdly there is a real risk that the accused in South African case may argue that they are prejudiced by the delay caused by the extradition inquiry."

The case against five of the seven accused has also been postponed to August in the Durban Magistrate’s Court for the finalisation of investigations after they were denied bail on Wednesday.

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