DURBAN - Brothers, Ned and Dylan Govender, who have been charged with the murder of Mondli Majola, 19, during the July violent unrest in Phoenix, were denied bail by the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Majola was allegedly among a group of black people who were attacked by armed Phoenix residents.
The Govender brothers were remanded to Westville Prison until the trial begins.
They are due back in court on December 15, 2021.
Magistrate Irfaan Khalil dismissed the Govender brothers' bail application, saying their reasons were not sufficient enough to warrant bail being granted in a schedule six case.
He said one of the reasons was for the applicants to prove that they would be acquitted at the trial.
"The fact that the company which they operated will close down should they not be released was inconsistent with what their mother said in her affidavit. The company is still operating without them, though at a slower pace," Khalil said.
Both brothers said they were asthmatic and on chronic medication, and one of them had recently been diagnosed with high cholesterol.
However, the magistrate said, these medications could be accessed even in prison.
"They have elected affidavits, which are not open to cross-examination by the prosecutor," Khalil said.
In an affidavit, the mother had stated that there were no available experts to do the applicants' work in the business, which had to do with computer software and servicing machinery.
The magistrate said it was not possible that there would be no one able to use company machinery and software.
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