A man accused of concealing his identity in court during a car theft case last year couldn't be in court yesterday as he is currently facing murder charges in KwaZulu-Natal.
A man accused of concealing his identity in court during a car theft case last year couldn't be in court yesterday as he is currently facing murder charges in KwaZulu-Natal.
Grocott's Mail learned this week that KZN police officers recently came to Grahamstown to identify the man, claiming his name is Gordon Hasim, but who police suspect to be Bongani Jele.
Police took him back to Durban where he faces a number of other charges, including murder. Hasim was due to appear in the Grahamstown Regional Court together with co-accused Mxolisi Smith on car theft charges after the pair were arrested while driving a stolen car in Grahamstown last year.
During their bail application in September 2012 investigating officer Warrant Officer Robbie Roberts said Hasim was not who he claimed to be.
According to Roberts his name is Bongani Jele and KZN police were looking for him in connection with the rape and murder of a woman in Utrecht, theft of a motor vehicle in Emadadeni and for possession of an unlicensed firearm in Dundee.
Hasim, visibly shocked at the time, listened in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court as Roberts revealed the pending warrants of arrest against him. However, he insisted his name was Hasim and said he had never been charged with a crime.
Hasim later told the court he wished to abandon the bail application until the identity problem was sorted out.
The case was postponed once again yesterday because Jele was reportedly trying to solicit a barrister in KZN.
Hasim was originally requisitioned to come to court on 19 April. However, the magistrate opted to postpone the case in the absence of both men to 9 April.
