Cape Town – The case of a man accused of murdering a teenage girl and dismembering her body was postponed by the Blue Downs District Court on Monday.

Prosecutor M Holt told the court that the Western Cape directorate for public prosecutions wanted an extra 14 days to finalise and formulate the charges.

Holt said it was possible that more charges would be added to the six counts Johannes Christiaan de Jager, 48, already faced. The magistrate granted the postponement, but at the request of defence attorney David Mbazwana, warned that it would be the final postponement for the DPP to finalise the charges.

This was De Jager’s seventh court appearance.

The case was postponed to 12 August.

De Jager allegedly murdered teenager Charmaine Mare in January, while staying at her home in Kraaifontein, in Cape Town’s northern suburbs.

At the time Mare’s mother and other family members were away on a sea cruise.

He also allegedly raped and murdered a prostitute, Hiltina Alexander, in May 2008.

De Jager faces charges of murder, aggravated robbery, defeating the ends of justice, dismembering a corpse, and fraud.

It was alleged that he buried Mare’s partially burned torso in a deserted piece of veld in Kraaifontein, and that he hid her arms and legs in a carton in the garage of her home. He also allegedly falsely reported the girl as missing to the police.

De Jager has already appeared in the Atlantis District Court for Alexander’s murder.

The two cases are to be combined.

– SAPA