Jurgens Nel murder update: Tonga court postpones case to August

The Citizen

5 days ago

Murder accused Sonell Joubert briefly appeared before the Tonga Magistrate's Court on Thursday, June 26.
It took a mere five minutes for the court to postpone the matter to August 14 after Joubert's legal representative, Adv Hennie van Rensburg, asked for the postponement. Van Rensburg told the court the docket had not been furnished to the defence and therefore could not continue with the matter.
He prevented Lowvelder's senior journalist, Riot Hlatshwayo, from interviewing Joubert. 'She is under my instructions and you are not going to interview her,' Van Rensburg said, despite being told the interview would be to establish what Joubert missed most when she spent almost four months behind bars and to get her view of what life is like in prison.
ALSO READ: Mpumalanga High Court grants bail for murder-accused Sonell Joubert
Joubert was arrested on February 4 when she went to the KaMhlushwa Police Station to give a statement about the case she is now charged in.
She is accused of stabbing Jurgens Nel to death at the Lowhills Farm in Nkomazi at the beginning of February.
The Tonga Magistrate's Court denied her bail on February 24, following two applications in which she was represented by two different lawyers.
One of her previous lawyers, Marco Lamberti from Johannesburg, pulled out of the case saying he had not been paid for his services.
ALSO READ: Judgment reserved in bail appeal of murder-accused Sonell Joubert
Van Rensburg took over and successfully secured Joubert's R15 000 bail, which was granted by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court on May 29 after an appeal.
The ordeal started when Joubert approached the Tonga police February 1 to report Nel for contravening a protection order she had instituted against him.
Two police officers went to the Lowhills Farm to arrest Nel for the offence, but while they were there, Joubert and her life partner, Johann Möller, told the police that Nel had locked himself inside the house, and he was armed and aggressive.
ALSO READ: Tonga Magistrate's Court postpones Sonell Joubert's murder case yet again
The cops left without speaking to Nel, but eight police officers returned to the farm on February 3 looking for him. They found him dead with six stab wounds to the upper body. The team leader and investigating officer, Sergeant Bonginkosi Given Nguyuza, later told the court that Joubert told him that she stabbed Nel during a fight.
Nguyuza then instructed her to visit the KaMhlushwa Police Station to give a statement about what had happened. After listening to Joubert's story, Nguyuza immediately placed her under arrest, which led to her stay behind bars from February 4 to May 29 when the High Court granted her bail.
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Joubert, Möller and Nel stayed on the farm where the latter assisted the couple with woodwork and other domestic duties. Joubert and Möller owned a domesticated elephant that they used for educational interactions with tour groups, but authorities have since removed him from the farm.
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