KZN police officer accused of double murder of two women in Hillcrest abandons bail

The police officer who allegedly killed two women last month in Hillcrest has abandoned his bail application. Mlungisi Sikhakhane appeared briefly before the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court, west of Durban.

He is facing two counts of murder after he allegedly shot and killed Sithembile Ngobese and Enhle Majozi.

It is believed that the two women were in a relationship with Sikhakhane.

It still remains a mystery why the accused, a police officer, allegedly shot and killed the two young women.

Their bodies were found in a room rented by Sikhakhane with multiple gunshot wounds. In a twist of events during the court proceedings Sikhakhane’s lawyer asked to withdraw from the case citing conflict of interest.

The families of the deceased women who were also in court say they will not be safe if the officer is granted bail.

Father of Enhle Majozi, Oscar Msomi says, “The matter of the bail is really crazy. How (can) a person who is facing serious charges right now … we are going towards 16 Days of Activism … how then is it possible that such person is even being considered to be given bail to go out? If you actually look at it statistically, it’s nine out of 10 times that a person who had done crime before (and) was allowed to be out on bail, (commits) another crime while on bail or parole. Let’s just keep these people behind bars until it is proven that they are innocent. Why take a risk? Let him remain behind bars. Let him be proven innocent and then let him out. Don’t let him out if there is a question mark on his head, that a man who is out of his mind he will be able to take more lives with him knowing that he is going down anyway.”

Meanwhile Isaac Ngobese, father of Sithembile says their family is now living in fear and struggling to accept the ordeal.

“We are deeply hurt with all the delays in court. This adds to our burden and fresh wounds of losing our daughter. We are also living in fear. We don’t feel safe at all. Even if I need to step out of our home, I do not know if I’ll come back alive or what will happen to my family. This tragedy is a worst of its kind. Even my wife is not coping at all. She is struggling to sleep at night. The killing of my child by police made me lose faith in the police. (They are) the people who are supposed to protect us, but look at what happened to my daughter.”

The case against Sikhakhane was postponed to the 14th of December for further investigations and to also allow the accused to get another attorney.

The officer remains in custody.