The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it did not oppose bail for Ntokozo Zikhali, the man accused of murdering four-year-old Bokgabo Poo when he was charged for a different rape case.
Zikhali, 30 appeared in the Benoni Magistrates Court on Monday both for a 9-year-old rape case as well as baby Bokgabo’s rape and murder.
The four-year-old’s mutilated body was discovered last week after she was abducted from a park in Wattville.
The matter has been postponed to November for the State to apply for his bail in a separate matter to be revoked.
Zikhali was out on bail at the time when he allegedly attacked baby Bokgabo. He was facing a charge for the rape of a 9-year-old. The NPA revealed that it did oppose his bail application, following outrage over how he was granted bail.
The NPA’s Lumka Mahanjana said: “Simply because we did not have sufficient evidence on the matter to oppose bail, because the child was only able to identify the accused three months after.”
The NPA will now apply to have Zikhali’s bail revoked. His lawyers said they would not apply for his bail in Poo’s murder case, pending the outcome of this application.