Pretoria – Murder-accused 36-year-old Helder Isidro from Eersterust has abandoned his bail application.
Isidro, who was arrested for the murder of 30-year-old Loveness Magabe, abandoned his bail application at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 6 August 2025.
The accused is facing a charge of murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The state alleges that Isidro and Magabe initially met on a Facebook hook-up site and later continued communicating via WhatsApp.
They arranged to meet in person at a lodge in Eersterust on 26 July 2025.
On the said date, it is alleged that the accused ordered an Uber for the deceased to pick her up from her place of residence in Sunnyside and drop her off at the place they were to meet.
However, when the Uber dropped off Magabe, she realised that the meeting place was not a lodge as initially agreed.
It was the accused’s residence.
Upon her arrival before the two met, it is alleged that Magabe sent a message to her friend to alert her that the place where she was dropped off “looked dodgy”.
Magabe also sent her friend a PIN location.
When the deceased failed to return home the following day and was unreachable on her cellphone, her concerned friend reported her missing at the Sunnyside Police Station.
That was on 27 July 2025.
National Prosecuting Authority Gauteng Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said following an intensive police investigation Magabe’s body was found in a shallow grave at Isidro’s residence in Eersterust on 31 July 2025.
“Isidro was arrested on 4 August 2025 at his grandmother’s residence in Limpopo,” Mahanjana said.
The case has been postponed to 15 October 2025 for further investigation.
In a separate matter, Isidro is also facing a rape charge and is scheduled to appear in another Court on the same date (15 October 2025).
