An 18-year-old youth from Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, accused of killing his three-year-old brother has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. 

Ikemetse Tsheole appeared in the Vereeniging magistrate's court on Thursday on charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice. He was referred to a state psychiatric hospital for assessment.

His defence attorney, Lucky Sundani from Legal Aid South Africa, submitted an application in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act to determine whether he would be able to stand trial. 

Tsheole has allegedly confessed to poisoning his brother Abraham with rat poison. 

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the mother was at home on January 31 with the accused and her other two sons, aged 16 and 22, when she noticed at about 11am that her youngest son was missing.

“Assuming he was playing at a neighbour’s house, she did not immediately raise the alarm. However, by 1pm when the child had still not returned she started searching for him.

“At about 4pm the 16-year-old brother went to a nearby field near the N1 to feed his goats when he saw the accused placing the child’s body in a dustbin.

“After confronting him, the brother took the dustbin containing the child's body to their home and informed their mother. Emergency services were called and the child was declared dead at the scene,” she said. 

Sundani told the court that after consultation the family and Tsheole, he was instructed to abandon a bail application for now.

There was prima facie evidence that Tsheole might not have appreciated the wrongfulness of his actions during the alleged commission of the offence and might not be able to follow the legal proceedings.

“I have a brief history from the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. I have documentary proof that the accused has a mental problem because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2021,” Sundani said.

The teenager was admitted to the hospital in October of that year with a two-week history of decline in function, social withdrawal, disorganised behaviour (praying at odd times), aggressive behaviour (threatening family members and destroying property) and bizarre delusions (a belief he had in an ancestral calling linked to “Illuminati Satan”).

“Of note is the belief in the calling to be a sangoma was not in keeping with his family belief system and the link [illuminati] was not in keeping with African culture. His symptoms were in the context of substance abuse,” Sundani told the court. 

Prosecutor advocate Taku Chabalala said he held discussions with the family and was informed there was a history of schizophrenia, which was aggravated by abuse of substances such as dagga and crystal meth.

“For the state to prosecute the accused properly on these charges, it must prove the accused at the commission of the offence had criminal capacity.

“To establish that, the accused must be referred to Sterkfontein Hospital and only then and depending on the report from the psychiatrist, the state will decide whether the accused should be prosecuted or be declared a mental health patient,” said Chabalala. 

Tsheole was remanded and his case was postponed to March 13 for feedback on the referral to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation.