Cape Town - The mother of murdered teenager Cytheria Rex says that she’s all but given up on the justice system after her daughter’s murder trial was postponed for the 100th time.
Six men, Virgil Sass, Oswill Grootboom, Imeraan Hendricks, Lee Cloete, Rhonwen Rhode, and Keenan Lewis appeared in the Blue Down’s Magistrates Court, charged with murder this week.
Cytheria Rex was 17 when she was brutally raped and murdered in February 2009.
Her body had been stuffed into a wheelie bin and she was dumped on a field in Eikendal, Kraaifontein.
The men charged with her murder were all arrested soon after her body was discovered but the wheels of justice ground to a halt and the case has dragged on for 11 years and this week was postponed for the 100th time.
The National Prosecuting Authority has detailed that the delays over the years were beyond their control and included the accused chopping and changing attorneys.
The trial resumed briefly this week but was swiftly postponed to allow for the accused to confirm their Legal Aid representation on February 15.
The murder trial will only resume in the Blue Down’s Magistrates Court on March 17.
Jacqueline Rex is frustrated that there has been no justice for her daughter, Cytheria despite the arrests being made.
Rex lives in Paarl and said she cannot afford to travel to the Blue Down’s Magistrates Court for short court appearances that never amount to the finality of the trial.
“Every time you come there you must just greet the judge, ’Good morning….goodbye’. I stay in Paarl and have to use the train and taxi, just to go there and come back at 10 ‘o clock again.”
This year the men charged with Cytheria’s rape and murder appeared in court nine times and the trial has not progressed.
On February 22 it will be the 12th anniversary of the teenager’s death and no one has been sentenced for the crime. Rex said it’s hard to remain optimistic when justice has been this slow.
“I’m sick and tired of this but I don’t want to give up because justice must be served...but for so long - something serious must be done.”
Rex said she has tried to contact the minister of justice and the president’s office but was unable to speak to anyone who might be able to help her speed up the murder trial.
Weekend Argus