Cape Town - An additional charge has been added to the docket of a man accused of luring a 63-year-old man to his death after he allegedly responded to an advertisement on Facebook for the sale of the deceased’s car.
The court case against Xanti Kenya continued at the Athlone Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Kenya is facing a charge of murder and robbery for Ikraam Taliep, who had advertised his Mercedes-Benz for R47 000 on Facebook in October 2021.
The family had previously described Taliep as being very security conscious and that he had met his killers at a location, armed with his licensed firearm after leaving his home in Rondebosch.
It is believed Taliep’s killers had created two fake Facebook accounts and apparently lured him to the location where they murdered him.
The accounts were deleted following the murder.
Taliep was found inside his vehicle in Browns Farm with a gunshot wound to his body and his car keys and firearm were missing.
A week after Taliep’s death and with the police’s investigation, the family found his body at the morgue.
A key witness who allegedly saw Taliep inside his vehicle with two suspects alerted the police and Kenya was arrested.
Kenya is currently out on R1 000 bail.
Yesterday, the family heard that a charge of attempted hijacking was added after recommendation had been made for more charges to be added.
The case, which has been under the review of three different State prosecutors, was now sent off to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for a decision where the trial would be heard.
The case was postponed to September 12.
Sumaya Taliep, a representative for the family, said they were frustrated at the case’s slow movement but happy that it was now proceeding and that an additional charge had been added.
The DA Mitchells Plain 1 Constituency, which Sumaya is part of, had arranged a placard demonstration and attended the court case together with family.
“Although three different prosecutors appeared in court, we were very happy that Prosecutor Fick returned from sick leave,” she said.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. As a family we are looking to a successful investigation, efficient court hearing process, conviction and sentencing process.”
In a statement written by the family, they said they hosted a placard demonstration outside court to voice their concerns.
“The success of prosecution is as strong as the weakest link. Poor detective work, delay in DNA reporting has a serious effect on the conviction outcome.
“According to statistics, of the 6 083 people killed in the country, 888 of them were women, 306 were children under the age of 17 years old and 4 897 were men.”
The family further said they were informed that the forensic DNA was still outstanding.
MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety Reagen Allen previously said the case was being referred for observation by the Department’s Court Watching Brief, which would monitor it.