Cult leader still missing

2003-06-27 16:37

Umtata - Police are still looking for a woman believed to be the head of an alleged cult responsible for the death of eight people.

The deceased were discovered after shallow graves were exhumed in a church compound this week.

Three people appeared in the Umtata District Court on Friday in connection with the case.

Three senior members of the church, Thompson Lingani, 77, Sabelo Simayile, 50, and Herbert Lingani, 45, were joined in court by 12 other members who were granted R300 bail each on Monday.

The senior members were granted bail of R500 each after magistrate Molden Hower said the state had a prima facie evidence against them because the eight bodies buried in the graves were found in their properties.

A large, placard-carrying crowd converged on the court uttering death threats against the members of the church - dubbed a cult - in the Mandela Park informal settlement in Umtata where the graves were found, according to a Sapa correspondent.

The protesters demanded that the 15 suspects be remanded in custody. Public order policing members were summoned to the court.

Leaving the court, the accused retreated when they saw the crowd and waited in a court waiting room until the group dwindled. No incidents were reported.

The investigating officer, Detective Inspector Bongani Ntanjana, told the court the post-mortems had been completed but he was not in a position to say how the deceased died.

The case was postponed to September 1, and the accused were ordered not to go near the compound until the case had been finalised.

The court also ordered the accused to seek accommodation with relatives and not to return to the Mandela Park formal settlement.

On Thursday, a grader was used to remove topsoil at the compound to ascertain whether were there any other bodies.

- SAPA