Alleged Killers of Queer Teen Kwakhanya Mhlanganisi Remain in Custody

There’s been a significant development in the horror murder case of queer teenager Kwakhanya Mhlanganisi after the second suspect linked to the murder was arrested.

On Thursday, 15 January, both suspects appeared in court. They declined to seek bail and will remain in custody. The first suspect was arrested on 7 December 2025, shortly after the brutal attack.

Frustratingly, the case was postponed for a fourth time, this time to allow for further investigation. It is now scheduled to resume on 7 May 2026 – six months after Mhlanganisi’s murder.

At a previous hearing last week, it was revealed that court officials were unable to locate the case docket.

On 8 January, Free Gender, Khulani Khayelitsha Queer Hub, Mhlanganisi’s father, and several other civil society organisations met with the Senior Prosecutor, the Detective Commander of Site B SAPS, and the Khayelitsha Subdistrict Commander to investigate what had happened to the docket.

It was established that the case docket had not gone missing but rather was located at the NPA office and had not been delivered to the court in time. A duplicate copy of the original docket was made available for the hearing on Thursday, allowing the court to proceed.

The news of the suspects abandoning bail brought some relief for Mhlanganisi’s family, loved ones, and community activists.

Founder of Free Gender and longtime queer activist Funeka Soldaat told MambaOnline, “I’m really happy with the commitment of the Kwakhanya mobilising committee that is monitoring the case. The committee includes civil society organisations and political parties.”

They added, “The meeting that we had last year with SAPS and the NPA when we were not happy with the progress of the case, has paid off.”

Nevertheless, optimism about progress in the case remains cautious. The confusion around the location of the original docket continues to raise concerns.

Vinolia “Vee” Sidukwana, a representative from the Triangle Project, told MambaOnline that the mobilising committee for Kwakhanya’s case will be meeting next week to further clarify the location of the docket and why neither the investigating officer nor the court had access to the original copy.

“We want to keep track of this court case up until we find justice. Until then, we will still be on the case of the investigating officer and the prosecutor. We want answers,” Sindukwana shared.

The consequences of not locating the original docket could be dire, Sindukwana emphasised, “[if] the docket is not found, it means that it might happen that the case at any point could be thrown out of court.”

The 16-year-old Mhlanganisi was murdered in a suspected hate crime on the night of the 3rd of December 2025, when he was reportedly beaten and set alight by two individuals.