News24.com | Search for missing German tourist continues, as five accused appear in dock for robbery

Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin and Melvin Guenantin greeted loved ones in the gallery as they made their way into the dock.

• The case against five men charged with the robbery of missing German tourist Nick Frischke has been postponed.
• This as the State confirmed further investigations were still under way.
• Almost three months after his disappearance, Frischke is yet to be found.

As the unsuccessful search for missing German tourist Nick Frischke continues, the case against the five men who confessed to robbing him the day he disappeared was on Thursday postponed for further investigation.

Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin and Melvin Guenantin appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on a charge of aggravated robbery.

The accused are the last known people to have seen Frischke alive when they held him up on Karbonkelberg. They are understood to have claimed that the German ran off after they robbed him.

He had been hiking on his own when he went missing on 15 February, not yet halfway through his three-week Cape Town holiday.

More than two months since his disappearance, no trace of the 22-year-old firefighter from Brandenburg, near Cottbus, has yet been found.

The case docket is currently with the Director of Public Prosecutions, the court heard on Thursday.

All five accused remain in custody.

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The men did not apply for bail during their previous court appearance in March, when the case was postponed for further investigation as the police still required witness statements, DNA and cellphone evidence.

Carlo Guenantin, who was previously convicted of attempted murder, was released on parole last year.

Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said legislated procedures were under way to revoke this after officials could not locate Guenantin at his home where he was expected to be, as per his parole conditions.

The desperate search for Frishcke has since lost its urgency after the authorities and volunteers combed the mountainside for weeks without success.

Police said searches would resume as new leads were received.

The belongings of the young tourist are still at the Airbnb in Pinelands where he was staying. His host confirmed to the family that Frischke had not returned to the digs that day, after his parents checked in with her when their son had not made contact with them as he usually did.

The day he went missing, he was seen on CCTV footage at the V&A Waterfront, wearing blue denim shorts, a beige T-shirt and sneakers. He had travelled to Hout Bay using an e-hailing service for a planned hike.

There is no evidence of Frischke, who did not speak English well, coming back down the mountain.

He also failed to pitch for a surfing course he had registered for the next day.