Kelly Bain murder accused in court

“Turn so we can see your face.”

This was said by Kelly Bain’s mother as she sat in court behind the man accused of murdering her daughter during a robbery in 2018.

Sizwe Jika, 27, who police have described as an habitual criminal, appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with murder, housebreaking with the intention to commit robbery and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

He has numerous other pending cases.

Jika, who initially sat in the dock looking dejected, laughed when Bain’s mother, Judi, addressed him in isiXhosa, saying: “Jika sikubone ubuso [turn so we can see your face]”.

Jika was denied bail as a result of his previous, continuing and pending cases.

He will remain in police custody pending further investigation, with his next court appearance due on February 28.

Bain’s mother and father, Roy, and other family members, sat staring stonily at Jika.

He was arrested in St Albans Prison, on Sunday, where he was found facing trial for several other cases. Bain, 26, was on maternity leave at her Brymore home with her one-month-old baby when the killer struck on July 25 2018.

The intruder stabbed her in the neck in front of the newborn during a botched robbery.

Bain’s domestic worker, who was busy in the bathroom and heard Bain’s screams, found when she tried to get out that she had been locked in.

Bain’s fiance, Christopher Bonus, arrived home moments later and grappled in the bedroom with the assailant, who managed to break free and escape over the boundary wall.

Jika has 10 pending cases – involving offences allegedly committed between March and July 2018 – including two murders linked with two robberies, and eight burglaries.