Five men accused of gunning down three Durban pub patrons during an argument over the size of their penises are expected to go on trial in July.
Their lawyer Zane Haneef told the Durban Magistrate's Court on Thursday that a provisional trial date had been set down for July 27 to August 7. He said their indictments would be finalised by April 22.
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Two police inspectors, Brian Samuel Steven, 39, of Mayville police station and his brother Leon, 33, of the Point police station, together with Clive Naidoo, 37, Julian Naidoo, 31 (no relation) and Naeem Sadick, 22, face murder charges.
On September 10 last year, three men, Shawn Strydom, 33, Nick Jansen van Rensburg, 57, and Rory Menzes, 40, were killed after an argument at the Merseyside pub in Durban's Umbilo suburb.
Two others were wounded but survived. At the time of the shootings, police said the argument began when a patron of Indian descent made a comment about the size of a white patron's genitals while both were at the pub's urinals.
An officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity at the time said:
"The white man went to the toilet and an Indian guy followed him. While in the urinal, the Indian man told the white man that his penis was bigger his (the white man's).
"The white man left the urinal and told his friends about what had happened and this is when the argument started."
Vulgarities were exchanged and a group of five men left the pub and returned, allegedly with firearms. The three patrons were then shot dead. The two police officers suspected of involvement were later suspended.
Police spokesman Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu at the time said that as the argument developed it had possibly become racially motivated. However, a senior staff member at the pub told Sapa the argument had started over the size of their genitals.
At a previous court appearance, the five accused pleaded not guilty to the murders, saying they acted in self-defence after being victims of a racist attack. One of them claimed he had been called a "coolie".
Their bail was extended and the matter postponed to April 22.
Source : Sapa /ma/th
Date : 29 Jan 2009 11:27
