THE man accused of a series of rapes and murders at the University of Venda and surrounding areas in Thohoyandou yesterday swore at and threatened the families of his alleged victims .

He insulted the families while appearing in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court in the presence of magistrate Adriaan Geldenhuys.

Ndivhuwo Godfrey Ntsieni is facing 16 charges, including four counts of murder, one of attempted murder, five of rape, three of robbery and three counts of kidnaping.

Ntsieni was arrested in July last year . T he state yesterday asked for the case to be postponed to March 24 as reports from a psychologist and psychiatrist are still outstanding.

Both have asked for another two weeks to finalise the reports as they are still in the process of evaluating the accused's mental state.

Ntsieni was sent for mental evaluation at Hayani Hospital two weeks ago after the state asked that he be sent there . Geldenhys granted the state two weeks to conclude the evaluation reports.

Throngs of University of Venda students protested outside the court, demanding that he be denied bail.

Parents of one of the victims who was raped and murdered, allegedly by Ntsieni, said the postponement is not doing them any good as they want the whole drama to end so they can forget what happened to their loved one.

For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays