Two men and a 15-year-old boy pleaded not guilty when they appeared in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on Wednesday in connection with the rape and murder of an elderly woman in Extension 9 earlier this year. It is alleged that on the night of the incident in May, Vuyani Phaphu, 23, Thembalethu Gwebani, 25, and the minor entered the home of Sindiwe Bedesho, 66, through a broken window, and raped and killed her before taking her television set and a blanket. Her body was discovered by her neighbours the next day. Magistrate Nomnikelo Jebese postponed the case to 14 September, to find out whether the Directorate of Public Prosecutions will transfer the case to the High Court, and for further investigations to be conducted. The men remain in custody. The teenager is in a place of safety, in Port Elizabeth.
