By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The 21-year-old student Bafana Mahungela, the man accused of the heinous murder of a pregnant Sandton teacher Kirsten Kluyts, has been denied bail.
Mahungela made another appearance in the dock on Thursday for the conclusion of a lengthy bail application, which in the end spanned a total of five days.
Ultimately charged with a schedule six offence, it came down to whether there were exceptional circumstances warranting the accused’s release, in the interest of justice.
He faces charges of premeditated murder, rape, and robbery with aggravated circumstances.
His lawyers had argued that the State had no case against him, but the courts found this was not the case.
In handing down her ruling, Magistrate Syta Prinsloo found the State had in fact established a prima facie (on the face of it) case of both premeditated murder and aggravated robbery.
She found, however, that at this point, without DNA evidence, it had not established a prima facie case of rape.
Nonetheless, she also found the accused posed a danger to society, and bail was refused.
Kluyts, who was 14 weeks pregnant with a baby boy at the time of her brutal murder on 29 October, was attacked at George Lea Park in Parkmore, Johannesburg, after she took part in the MyRun event.
The 34-year-old’s naked body was found by fellow runners.
Kluyts’ running shoes, sunglasses, blue T-shirt, pants, and pink cap were taken.
According to the state, Kluyts was struck with a blunt object before she was smothered and strangled.
Her alleged killer was subsequently arrested at his student residence on 26 November after the police obtained video footage from CCTV cameras in the vicinity of Parkmore.