Some of the men accused of killing the Coka brothers on a farm in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, are fighting to be released on bail in another double murder case.
Sowetan has confirmed with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that the accused – Zenzele Patrick Yende, Wiener Potgieter, Cornelius Greyling, Eliot Dlamini, Moses Dlamini, Sikhumbuzo Zikalala, Mzwakhe Dlamini and Nkosinathi Msibi – have approached the Mpumalanga high court to appeal against the denial of bail in the Sfiso Thwala and Musa Nene murder case.
They were denied bail by the Piet Retief magistrate's court in May.
“I can confirm that the eight men accused of beating and killing Sfiso Thwala and Musa Nene have appealed their bail judgment in the high court. They have submitted their papers to the state,” said NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa.
They are due back in court on July 23.
Yende, Potgieter and Greyling are also accused of killing the Coka brothers – Zenzele, 40, and Mgcini, 36 – at the same Bampoen farm on April 9, when they were apparently trying to break up a scuffle between farmers and job seekers.
The other accused in the matter are Andre Pienaar, Daniel Malan, Othard Clingberg and Michael Sternberg.
Yesterday, Nyuswa said the Coka brothers' murder case was postponed until July 23 for the disclosure of the indictment to the defence.
The accused in the Coka brothers' murder case were released on R10,000 bail each by the same court, but Yende, Potgieter and Greyling have been in custody since May after they were denied bail in the other double murder case.
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