Man charged for missing UK couple's murder
A Malawian national has been charged with murdering a UK-born couple - in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.
This as the search for botanists, Rodney and Rachel Saunders gets into its seventh week following their alleged kidnapping in northern KZN last month.
Police arrested Ahmad Jackson Mussa at the Bonela informal settlement, north of Durban, on Thursday night.
His co-accused - Sayfydeen Aslam del Vecchio and Fatima Patel as well as teenager, Themba Xulu - have already made several appearances in court in connection with the case. Xulu has since been denied bail.
According to the charge sheet - the 36-year-old is accused of the murder of Rodney and Rachael Saunders.
The elderly couple is believed to have been killed on February 10 - two days after they were reported missing near Bivane Dam in Vryheid.
It's not yet clear at this stage if more charges related to the incident will be brought against Mussa.
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The court has also heard Mussa's passport had expired and that he'd come to South Africa as an asylum seeker but claims to have lost his documents.
He is due back in the dock next month - along with del Vecchio, Patel and Xulu.
In the interim, a Legal Aid attorney is to establish whether or not she can represent Mussa. The attorney has also been tasked with notifying the Malawian Embassy about Mussa's arrest.