Elzabe, Breggie and Danie Brand.
- One of the accused in the Hartswater triple murder case must stay behind bars for now as her bail application has been postponed.
- She was the only one of the five accused who brought a bail application.
- The five are accused of abducting and murdering an elderly couple and their daughter in July.
“We are just grateful that she is not out on bail today,” said Heidi Taljaard on Thursday, after Kgomotso Mpumlwana, 42, brought an application for bail in court in Hartswater.
Mpumlwana, one of the accused in the murder of the Brand family from Hartswater in the Northern Cape, is the only one of the five accused who submitted a bail application on Thursday.
On Sunday, 26 July, Danie Brand, 83, his wife, Breggie, 73, and their eldest daughter, Elzabe, 54, were allegedly abducted from their smallholding in Hartswater.
The following Tuesday morning, police discovered Elzabe’s body in a field in the Taung area, north of Hartswater.
And that afternoon, at around 17:00, police informed the family they had found the elderly couple too.
Trudie de Beer and her husband, Kobus, and Dan Brand’s brother, Dries, attended the court proceedings.
READ | ‘They were about to have Sunday lunch’ – family speaks on triple farm murders
According to Reinette Liebenberg, the Northern Cape DA spokesperson for agriculture, land reform, rural development and nature conservation, Mpumlwana provided testimony in her application.
Liebenberg, who attended the proceedings as part of a review committee, said it was striking to her that Mpulwana was insecure and constantly contradicted herself during her testimony.
One of the reasons she gave for the bail application, was that she has disabled children who she has to take care of. The investigating officer denied this.
Mpumlwana also said she had no knowledge of the incident and did not know that the cellphone in her possession, with a new SIM card, belonged to one of the Brand family members.
Liebenberg said the State opposed the bail application, arguing that they feared Mpulwana would interfere with witnesses.
“With the various people from the area with whom I spoke outside the court, it was very clear that the community did not want bail granted to her,” Liebenberg said.
The case was postponed to 3 September so that the court could consider the bail application.
“She does not deserve bail. She did not think of our parents, our great-aunt or us when she made her choices,” Taljaard said on Thursday.
Read the original Afrikaans article here.
