Exclusive: In the 14th year of trial, the alleged rapists and killers of 17-year-old Cytheria Rex are preparing to bring an application to be freed after the case was postponed 116 times.
Legal experts have called the more than a decade long trial a miscarriage of justice and the accused’s changing of attorneys as a tactic to force witnesses to withdraw.
Virgil Sass, Oswill Grootboom, Imeraan Hendricks, Lee Cloete, Rhonwen Rhode, and Keenan Lewis are expected to make an appearance at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court next month.
Another accused, Warren Robertson was murdered in 2017.
At their previous court appearance last month, the accused requested for a Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act to be instituted because the Magistrates’ contract had come to an end. The section allows the accused to be discharged of charges against them.
Cytheria’s parents, Keith and Jacqueline, have given up hope in the justice system.
Keith no longer attends the court case due to the delays and Jacqueline has implored the judiciary not to free her daughter's alleged killers.
Cytheria was raped, stabbed over 40 times and her stomach slit open before being stuffed into a wheelie bin that was dumped on a field in Eikendal, Kraaifontein on February 22, 2009.
Cytheria’s bloody trail led police to her alleged killers.
“After Cytheria died I found a book amongst her belongings, she said in this book, she always saw me as her role model and she would rather die before me because she would never be able to live without me,” Jacqueline said.
“The forensic (report) said the wound to her heart was the one that killed her.They slit her stomach open, they slit her neck, they turned her neck because when she was found she was laying with her head up and her front side was on the ground but her face was facing clockwise.”
Jacqueline added that the killers had attempted to burn her daughter’s body, neck and joints for her body to fit into the wheelie bin.
“That is why I say these people cannot be freed, look how brutally they murdered my child. I gave this case to God, for God to bring people into this case and bring justice, because everyone has forgotten about Cytheria, so many cases are done and this is 14 years.”
The case has similarities to that of the murder of 17-year-old Anene Booysen from Bredasdorp in 2013 who was also gang raped and disembowelled at a construction site. Johannes Kana was arrested and charged for the murder and rape of Booysen and sentenced in November 2013.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the last witness testified on October 27, 2022, and that the State closed its case with a postponement to February 27 for the Section 174 application.
“This case has been postponed several times due to the accused changing legal representatives, failing to appear in court, and their legal representatives withdrawing their mandates.
“The NPA has all the intentions to finalise cases within a reasonable time but when accused are part of the reasons for delays, our hands are tied.”
Legal Practitioner for the Women’s Legal Centre Bronwyn Pithey said: “This is an absolute miscarriage of justice.
“If the Magistrate’s contract has come to an end it should have been extended and this is an administration issue.
“These postponements due to lawyers or legal representatives being changed can sometimes be a strategy by the accused to make a victim get tired and they may choose to withdraw and when there is a deceased victim, for the witnesses who cannot cope anymore with the case hanging over their heads.”
Atlantis Women’s Movement activist Barbara Rass called for justice system to hold the alleged killers accountable.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, Reagen Allen, has also called for Cytheria’s case to be completed.
“It is not acceptable that after 14 years, this matter has not been concluded. It is paramount that there is justice for Ms Cytheria Rex.
“Our Court Watching Briefs (CWB) monitored this case 2 years ago. I have been informed the matter was provisionally withdrawn, due to some of the accused changing legal representations, which was regarded as a delaying tactic by the accused.
“I have requested our CWB unit to look into this matter further. We will not stand by and allow those that might be guilty of this heinous crime to get away with it.”
Siya Monakali of Ilitha Labantu, a group that advocates for the rights of women and children said: “In South Africa there must be a call to action for our judiciary and police to reinforce measures to ensure that cases are properly investigated so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development spokesperson, Stephan Mahlangu said they could not comment.