The case of murder-accused Moyhdian Pangarker, 55, has been postponed to Monday August 17.
The accused has been charged with the murder and abduction of Tazne van Wyk in February. She would have celebrated her 9th birthday on Monday July 20. She disappeared while going to a tuck shop near her Connaught Estate home in Elsies River.
The case was briefly heard at Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on Friday July 31. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown no-one was allowed into the courthouse and it is not known if Pangarker appeared in person or over a camera feed. Tazne’s parents, Carmen van Wyk and Terence Manuel, accompanied by family, were also at the courthouse but were not allowed inside.
On Monday, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said the accused was likely to face additional charges. “More charges are going to be added, but we are not in a position to indicate how many and what those charges are as the investigation is still continuing. The exact charges will be communicated to the accused when he appears in Goodwood Magistrates Court on Monday August 14 where he will be handed an indictment.”
Pangarker has been remanded without bail and will remain in custody at Goodwood prison until his trial date.
Two weeks after Tazne’s disappearance, Pangarker was arrested in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. Upon his return to the Western Cape two days later, the child’s body was found in a stormwater pipe on the N1 just outside Worcester.
Pangarker has been convicted of crimes including theft and murder dating back to 1981. He was released on parole in October 2016 after serving eight years of a 10-year sentence for culpable homicide.