German tourist murder accused denied bail

Napoleon Joseph Nyalunga, who is accused of murdering German tourist Jorg Schnarr, 67, has been denied bail by the KaBokweni magistrate's court in Mpumalanga.

This comes after the court was informed by the investigating officer that the accused was currently out on bail in connection with another business robbery committed in Barberton, also in Mpumalanga.

Schnarr was shot twice during an attempted robbery on October 3, on road leading to Kruger National Park's Numbi Gate.

The deceased, who was the driver of a Hyundai H1, was shot after he and three passengers were accosted by men driving a charcoal VW Golf R.

According to police, the deceased was with his wife and another couple when he was shot after an altercation with the robbers.

During the closing arguments, state prosecutor Adv Martin Brits told the court that the accused had committed a schedule 6 offence while he was on bail for another robbery.

"Your worship, bail application on schedule 6 offence are very specific, that the accused should put exceptional circumstances on why he should be released.

"Here we are dealing with a bail application of an applicant who was arrested and committed the crime while on bail for a robbery in Barberton where items of the victims were found in his possession.

"On this case, the accused lied that he had children, told the court that the car used in the commission of the crime was his ... but it was later found that it was registered to his brother. Should he be released on bail it will not be in the interest of justice," Britz said.

After listening to arguments on both sides, magistrate Musa Mabuza concluded that the accused should not be granted bail.

"The court is of the view that the applicant failed to show exceptional circumstances to be released on bail, therefore bail is denied," Mabuza said.

The case was postponed to January 24 to allow further police investigation.

Raymond Mhlaba, a ward councillor in Numbi, told Sowetan that they are happy Nyalunga was denied bail.

"As the community we are happy the court denied the accused bail. He must reveal the other suspects he was working with so that we do away with crime in our area. We can't afford to lose tourists passing here to the Kruger because of crime," Mhlaba said.

"Tourists visiting the park are of benefit to communities along the road to the [Numbi] gate. That road brings jobs for our people when tourists are there. Again, the closure of this gate will mean it will no longer be easy for  our community members to get jobs in the Kruger park."

The future of Numbi Gate remains uncertain following the murder of Schnarr. The South African National Parks, which manage the Kruger,  urged visitors to the park to avoid the road leading to Numbi Gate, pointing to "recent spate of attacks".

On October 11, tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu also told parliament that the gate was unsafe.

"We learnt, after going into the details of this particular incident, that actually, the Numbi Gate is not a very safe place," Sisulu said.

"We have taken the advice of members who've said perhaps it should be closed."

A few days later, the US embassy in SA issued a security alert advising US citizens to avoid the road leading to Numbi Gate when they plan to visit the Kruger National Park.

Alternative gates into the Kruger in the area of Hazyview, which links up to Numbi, are Phabeni and Paul Kruger.