DJ Warras case: Buthelezi and Majola due in High Court

DEVELOPING STORY · Reviewed 15 September 2026

The prosecution over the killing of Warrick Stock, known as DJ Warras, has expanded with the arrest of Hlengiwe Buthelezi. She and Victor Mthethwa Majola are scheduled to appear in the Johannesburg High Court on 18 September for a pre-trial conference. Their proceedings continue separately from the completed guilty plea and sentence of Armando Pacula. NPA: latest case statement

Where each accused stands

The NPA said Buthelezi, 40, was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal on 10 September under a court-issued warrant and appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court. She abandoned her application for bail. Buthelezi and Majola, 44, face premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges arising from Stock’s killing outside the Zambesi Building in Johannesburg’s CBD on 16 December 2025. NPA

Pacula has already pleaded guilty under a section 105A plea-and-sentence agreement and received 25 years’ imprisonment. His conviction is a completed outcome concerning him. It is not a substitute for the prosecution proving its case against the other accused. NPA

The distinction is important in a case where several people are accused of participating in the same killing. A headline saying that someone has been sentenced can create the mistaken impression that the entire prosecution has ended. Here, there is both a sentence already imposed and a further case moving towards trial.

What abandoning bail means

Buthelezi’s decision concerns whether she seeks release pending the proceedings. It is not reported as a guilty plea. Bail deals with release and conditions while a case continues; it does not decide criminal responsibility. The prosecution still has to establish the charges against an accused who has not been convicted. Department of Justice: bail

Nor does the announcement of a conspiracy charge establish the detailed roles allegedly played by everyone involved. The latest NPA statement does not set out the full evidential account of planning, communications or payment. Describing those matters as proven would go beyond the information released.

Why the High Court appearance matters

The scheduled 18 September appearance is a pre-trial conference. It marks progress in organising the case for trial, rather than a promise that witnesses will testify or a verdict will be delivered that day. The useful next information is the court’s actual directions and any confirmed timetable.

Readers following the case should keep three records distinct: the allegation against each accused, any plea that person has entered, and the order the court has made concerning that person. This prevents Pacula’s sentence, Buthelezi’s bail position and Majola’s continuing prosecution from being collapsed into a single misleading account.

Stock’s killing remains the central event connecting the proceedings. The latest development broadens the prosecution, but it does not close every question about who participated and how. Those questions must be answered through the remaining court process and its findings.