The murder case against Hercules Delport was on Monday, August 22, transferred from the Bela-Bela Regional to the Modimolle Regional.
Clifford Cawood, who was initially charged with Delport for murder, will stand alone. The death certificate of Cawood was filed at the court. Cawood was recently awaiting trial and died at Kalafong Hospital in Pretoria. Delport is now the only accused and will stand trial.
Both Delport and Cawood were arrested several months ago and charged with murder after a man’s body parts were found near the old Warmbaths Dam in July. A woman’s body was found near Alma Road in August.
The process of identifying the bodies took a while, but the Bela-Bela police recently received positive DNA results that the body parts that were found at the dam belong to a man, Lawrence Makhanzi of Modjadjiskloof, Tzaneen. He was kidnapped, according to police and killed in the Bela-Bela area.
Warrant Officer Jannie Venter, the investigating officer, told Die Pos, the DNA samples from Makhanzi’s mother was compared with his body parts and he was positively identified. The identity of the woman whose body was found in August’s is still unknown.
Cawood, before his death together with Delport appeared regularly in court. In the meantime, Delport was charged in Boksburg with possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition. He is currently serving a sentence due to this cause.
The case will resume on Monday, October 24, at Modimolle.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
