Update

GEORGE NEWS - The murder trial for the slain Thembalethu beauty, Hlompho Mohapi (25), is scheduled to start early in May. This was confirmed by High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus on Wednesday morning in the Thembalethu Circuit High Court.

Mohapi was brutally murdered on 5 July 2018. Her body was found by fishermen on the gravel road leading to the infamous Voëlklip viewpoint. She had stab wounds to her chest and her throat was slit.

Shortly afterwards, Melisizwe Monqo (31), Siphosihle Pamba (24) and Phumlani Qusheka (30), were arrested.

Mohapi was allegedly lured to her death under false pretences of a job interview at George Airport. Life and funeral policies worth R3-million were taken out on her name shortly before she was murdered.

The accused also face charges of attempted murder after they allegedly attempted to kill three other women using a similar modus operandi in the Eastern Cape. 

All the cases have been centralised and trial is set to start in the George Circuit High Court on Monday 4 May.

Adv Evadne Kortje is for the state. Louise Luterek is acting on behalf of Qusheka, Adv Dawie Scholtz represents Pamba and Monqo is represented by Adv Johan Visser. All three representatives were appointed by Legal Aid SA.