The man charged with a massacre that took place in Khayelitsha last week made his second appearance in court on Tuesday.
Gcinithemba Beja was charged with seven counts of murder and six counts of attempted
murder, and appeared for his bail application in Khayelitsha Magistrates’ Court.
On Sunday, 8 March, residents were shocked to wake up to the news that seven people had been wiped out by gunmen at an illegal
shebeen in Site B.
One person died while being transported to the hospital, while the tavern owner’s body was found a few hours later in a shack not far from the house where the incident happened.
The accused was arrested a day after the incident.
On Tuesday, the accused appeared restless as he stood in the dock.
Wearing a white long-sleeve T-shirt and sweatpants, Beja kept shaking his head as his charges were read, frequently looking over his shoulder at his family in the public gallery.
Both the accused’s defence lawyer and the State prosecutor asked for their names not to be published in the media.
The defence, who was not present at his client’s first court appearance, argued that Beja should be freed due to a lack of evidence.
“The two eyewitnesses who identified my client do not say where they saw him,” the lawyer said. “How is he linked with the crime?”
However, in an about-turn, Beja abandoned his bail application and the matter was postponed to 5 May.