Advocate Joseph Kgoelenya, who is representing the first accused in the murder, Sekwetje Mahlamba's (32), will ask the High Court judge to set aside Magistrate's Deon Van Rooyen's decision to refuse Mahlamba bail.

Kgoelenya is also set to argue that the evidence against Mahlamba is weak and circumstantial.

This, as DNA samples taken from Horner's bakkie could not be linked to the accused. Police previously indicated that it could take up to 6 months to obtain results from blood samples taken from Mahlamba's bloodied trousers.

Mahlamba and his co-accused, Sekola Matlaletsa - who is in custody - stand accused of killing Horner after his body was found at De Rust farm with injuries on his head and face.

Furthermore, the DNA analyses of the bloodstains found in Horner’s bakkie, which were conducted at a private lab, were inconclusive.

Adv Kgoelenya previously told OFM News that Magistrate van Rooyen had erred in his decision not to grant his client bail, saying the supposed evidence had not conclusively linked his client to the murder.

During the bail hearing the state's witness and leading investigator, Pieter Myburgh, told the court about several allegedly credible statements from other state witnesses who implicated Mahlamba in the murder.

Myburgh previously told Magistrate Van Rooyen that – according to witnesses – Mahlamba and Matlaletsa were heard bragging at a local tavern in Fateng-Tse-Ntsho about how they assaulted a white man who was giving them problems.

Matlaletsa was granted bail of R5000 but soon afterwards was again arrested on a stock theft matter separate from the Horner case.

OFM News