According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) regional spokesperson in the Free State, Phaladi Shuping, the prosecutor "was booked off sick".  

Two men, Sekwetje Mahlamba and Sekola Matlaletsa, face charges of robbery, murder and now stock theft, which is separate from the Horner murder case. The murder case against the two was postponed to 22 June 2021 for bail application on the new facts.

Defence Advocate Machini Motloung previously told OFM News that they don’t want the case to be transferred to the High Court while their clients are still in custody. Mahlamba and Matlaletsa pleaded not guilty to the murder and robbery charges and, according to Motloung, thus far there allegedly hasn't been any tangible material evidence such as DNA results that directly links them to the murder of Horner.

According to reports, police received a call from other farmers reporting the attack at the De Rots Farm and while police were on the scene, they seized a knife from the scene and his bakkie was later found with bloodstains, abandoned near the Duikfontein farm at Paul Roux.

The two have been in custody since October 2020. Accused number 2, Matlaletsa, was granted bail of R5000 by Magistrate Deon van Rooyen, but he was later arrested for a stock theft case that took place on 17 March 2020 and he was only arrested in October, a few days after he posted for bail on the Horner murder case.  The bail application of accused number 1, Mahlamba, was denied by Magistrate Van Rooyen and his application to the High Court was dismissed by Judge Celeste Reinders, which means the latter has been in custody since his arrest in October 2020. 

The duo was nabbed in October 2020, following the discovery of Horner's body which was tied to a pole near Fateng Tse Ntsho, at Paul Roux, with stab wounds to his head, shoulders, and hands.

OFM News