DESPITE years of treatment for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, former Blue Bulls flanker Joseph Ntshongwana has been found fit to stand trial for the grisly axe murders of three Durban men.
The Durban magistrate's court yesterday heard that doctors who examined him while he was under observation at Pietermaritzburg's Fort Napier Hospital found that he was in sound mental health and would be able to stand trial in the high court.
The 34-year-old former rugby player is accused of killing Hlongwa and Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu as well as an unidentified man in March this year.
Hlongwa was decapitated with an axe on March 22, and his head was found in a dustbin in the Durban suburb of Merebank.
Cebekhulu was killed in the city's suburb of Montclair on March 20, while the body of an unidentified man was found in Umbilo on March 23.
Ntshongwana appeared relaxed and coherent in the dock yesterday - in stark contrast to his previous court appearances during which he clutched a Bible, howled and appeared to speak in tongues.
According to reports by Ntshongwana's private psychiatrists, who have been treating him since 2009, he suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and had been hospitalised in various institutions.
During previous court appearances Ntshongwana's father, Liston, a renowned rugby player who represented the erstwhile African Springboks which played against several international teams, said his son's condition required him to take medication daily.
But the relatives of his alleged victims, Hlongwa and Cebekhulu, are adamant that Ntshongwana is "faking" his mental health conditions.
The case was postponed to September 27.
Axe murders accused fit to stand trial
DESPITE years of treatment for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, former Blue Bulls flanker Joseph Ntshongwana has been found fit to stand trial for the grisly axe murders of three Durban men.
The Durban magistrate's court yesterday heard that doctors who examined him while he was under observation at Pietermaritzburg's Fort Napier Hospital found that he was in sound mental health and would be able to stand trial in the high court.
The 34-year-old former rugby player is accused of killing Hlongwa and Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu as well as an unidentified man in March this year.
Hlongwa was decapitated with an axe on March 22, and his head was found in a dustbin in the Durban suburb of Merebank.
Cebekhulu was killed in the city's suburb of Montclair on March 20, while the body of an unidentified man was found in Umbilo on March 23.
Ntshongwana appeared relaxed and coherent in the dock yesterday - in stark contrast to his previous court appearances during which he clutched a Bible, howled and appeared to speak in tongues.
According to reports by Ntshongwana's private psychiatrists, who have been treating him since 2009, he suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and had been hospitalised in various institutions.
During previous court appearances Ntshongwana's father, Liston, a renowned rugby player who represented the erstwhile African Springboks which played against several international teams, said his son's condition required him to take medication daily.
But the relatives of his alleged victims, Hlongwa and Cebekhulu, are adamant that Ntshongwana is "faking" his mental health conditions.
The case was postponed to September 27.
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