Teen in ISIS kidnapping case no longer facing murder charges
The State is is no longer pursuing charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and murder that were initially levelled against 19-year-old, Themba Xulu.
The Mthunzini teenager is though expected to plead guilty to other charges related to the kidnapping and murders of botanists, Rodney and Rachael Saunders.
Xulu was found in possession of the elderly UK-born couple's cellphones, after they went missing in Vryheid in February.
He has been in plea negotiations with the State.
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Xulu made a brief appearance in the Verulam Magistrate's Court today after the State successfully applied to have his case separated from that of three other accused.
The State was locked in negotiations with the defence for much of the morning.
But by noon, they were still not finished ironing out the finer details of the plea agreement and so the case was adjourned until 9 May.
While not much is known about Xulu's plea agreement at the moment, it's resulted in his case being separated from that of the other suspects'- Safydeen Aslam Del Vecchio, Fatima Patel and Ahmad Mussa.