6 July 2026
Juma Igiraneza at the barber where he worked in Mowbray when a group of officers came in and tortured him in November 2023 . The incident was caught on CCTV. Video screenshot: Ashraf Hendricks
A missing court interpreter has once again forced the postponement of the torture case in which three police officers are accused of beating and torturing a barber during a raid in Mowbray.
Lieutenant-colonel Delmore Manuel, constable Jermaine Conradie and constable Leigh-Ann Maroon are accused of torturing Juma Igiraneza at his workplace in Mowbray on 7 November 2023.
CCTV footage showed several police officers repeatedly assaulting Igiraneza, allegedly to get him to provide information on the whereabouts of his boss at the time.
In April, the case was provisionally withdrawn at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court because an interpreter was unavailable. It was then reinstated in May.
At the hearing on Monday, the court heard that despite a previous arrangement with a Kirundi interpreter in May, the interpreter was not available.
Magistrate Sharon Mthimunye said, “We are sitting with a problem. This matter was brought to this courtroom after there had been no interpreter. Then an interpreter was found and now the interpreter is not here again.”
The state initially asked for a postponement to check on the interpreter’s availability, but all the parties agreed to return to court at the end of July.
Speaking outside court, Igiraneza, who was with his brother, told GroundUp that it was frustrating having to save money to travel to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape for the case, only for the matter to be postponed. He says he still fears for his safety and feels intimidated in court when he sees the officers. He has moved in with a relative for security.
“Travelling to Cape Town is expensive. I am going back to the Eastern Cape on Friday, and I must be here again for the next court date, it’s too much,” said Igiraneza.
Mthimunye postponed the matter to 27 July for the accused to receive a court date.
