Murder and rape trial of 22-year-old Bafana Mahungela postponed to June

The case between the State and 22-year-old Bafana Mahungela, who is accused of the murder and rape of his former teacher Kirsten Kluyts, has been postponed once again.

This time, the matter has been moved to June 12 to allow the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to consider Mahungela's representation for a withdrawal of charges.

"This matter has been postponed to 12 June for the Director of Public Prosecutions to respond to your representations and you, Mr Mahungela are to remain in custody. If your legal counsel wants to apply for bail, he knows the procedure for that process and they (legal counsel) will do what needs to be done for that to happen," Judge Rean Strydom said.

The former student, who appeared in positive spirits and chatted with his father before the resumption of the trail at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, is charged with kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and attempting to rape the Delta Park High School teacher.

Previously, the defense had called for charges to be withdrawn amid a series of DNA discrepancies and subsequently submitted formal representations to the DPP requesting that charges against their client be withdrawn.

Mahungela was arrested at the Varsity College student residence in Benmore on November 26, 2023, following the emergence of video footage obtained from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the vicinity of Parkmore.

However, his family believes that this evidence was doctored to implicate him as the former student remains in custody more than two years since his incarceration.

During their submission, Mahungela’s legal counsel, Advocate Stanley Jacobs argued that crucial DNA evidence, available since December 22, 2023, has been withheld during bail hearings and early pre-trial stages.

"My Lord, I need to make this submission without going into the merits of the matter, in the last appearance, the State placed on record a copy of disclosure available to the defense. They also made available cellphone downloads which amount to 22,000 pages of information that we have received. Also, with regard to the memory stick, that has also been made available to us.

"We have also consulted with our experts and based on the information; we have verified what has been disclosed to us. That has necessitated that we make representations as this is crucial to us. On the strength of what we have been exposed to, we approach the state that there must be representations. We were told that they will respond to our representation, but this morning we receive communication that this is not going to happen," the defense lawyer stated.

The defense further argues that the state’s failure to present this evidence—whether by oversight or delay—violated their client’s right to a fair and transparent process after prosecutors during February 23, 2025, also admitted to not being aware of this DNA evidence.

“The DNA evidence introduces a new line of inquiry that must be fully explored in the interest of justice. We are therefore requesting that the charges be withdrawn pending a proper investigation into the implications of this evidence," wrote the defense team in their submission.

In the past, Mahungela, described by his lawyers as a student with no flight risk, has expressed willingness to cooperate fully with investigators should the charges be withdrawn. The National Prosecuting Authority has not yet issued a formal response to the representations.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za