The case against a Cape Flats pastor accused of being a serial rapist and murderer received his
formal list of charges on Wednesday.
Keith Bird, 50, of Tafelsig, in Mitchells Plain, made a brief appearance at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court on Wednesday where he was indicted.
The matter was postponed to 6 April for a Western Cape High Court trial date.
Bird is facing seven charges which include four rapes, two murders and one charge of intimidation.
It is believed Bird lured his victims with the promise of a job during 2013 and 2016.
He is accused of killing Aniesa Bardien, 37, whose decomposed body was found in a shallow grave near an informal settlement in Strandfontein in January 2013.
The Eastridge woman had disappeared after telling relatives she was going to a friend’s home for the night but was never seen alive again.
Bird is also alleged to have killed Sharvonne Koense, 20, who was strangled and raped and her body found dumped in bushes along Baden Powell Drive, Tafelsig, in August 2015.
Sharvonne, of Lavender Hill, was to attend a party, possibly in Tafelsig, but her body was found by a passerby.
Aniesa’s sister Ellen Bardien says: “I am happy now that I know that justice will be served. I know it won’t bring my sister back.”