Nkohla-Mabandla murder trial postponed to 2 November
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
The trial for the murder of South African activist Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla has been postponed to 2 November 2026 after a legal representative failed to appear. Three accused are standing trial over the fatal shooting of the former Cape Town councillor at a meeting in Philippi in 2023, according to IOL.
The trial for the murder of Loyiso Nkohla-Mabandla, a community activist and former Cape Town councillor, has been postponed to 2 November 2026 after the lawyer for one of the three accused failed to appear. The postponement was ordered on Monday, 26 October, at Wynberg Magistrates’ Court, according to IOL.
Nkohla-Mabandla was shot dead at a community meeting in Philippi in April 2023. His widow, Nyameka Mabandla, said she felt relieved as the trial began, while denouncing the emotional impact of repeated postponements on her family. GOOD party spokesperson Mandilakhe Tshwete expressed hope that the case would be resolved within three months.
The provincial secretary of the South African Communist Party in the Western Cape, Benson Ngqentsu, called for the proceedings to be expedited. African Transformation Congress leader Masizole Mnqasela called for harsher sentences for perpetrators of violence, including the reinstatement of the death penalty.
The postponement came on the day the trial for DJ Sumbody’s murder opened in Cape Town. Another murder trial, that of Katiso Molefe, was postponed to 19 July 2027.
