The man who confessed to a murder and arson case of the uSindiso building, in Marshalltown, made his first appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Thursday. A reserved Sithembiso Mdlalose (30) seemed like he hadn't bathed and wore a military green jacket, grey torn jeans and grey torn sneakers. 

The state prosecutor Kwanele Ndongeni told the court that Mdlalose faces a schedule six offence. "The accused faces one charge arson, 76 counts of murder and 120 counts of attempted murder," said Ndongeni, adding that the state will be opposing bail.

Asked if he would be using Legal Aid or a private representative, Mdlalose confirmed that he would be using the services of a paid lawyer, Advocate Dumisani Mabunda, who previously represented the bogus Dr Matthew Lani.

"I can confirm that I will be representing the accused and I am currently in possession of two addresses one in town and one in Soweto. I also have contacts of the families and can confirm that my client is a South African citizen with an ID number," said Mabunda. Addressing the media outside court, Mabunda confirmed that his client willingly confessed. "My instruction is that he confessed voluntarily and cooperated with the police. We are still going to consult further and take proper instructions. I can confirm now that my client will be moved to a single cell for safety reasons. Remember we have families who lost their loved ones in that fire so we don't know what can happen," he said.

The uSindiso building matter is currently under a commission of inquiry. The inquiry was appointed to probe the possible causes of the deadly fire and to investigate the prevalence of hijacked buildings in the CBD. NPA's Phindi Mjonondwana said it was a brief first appearance to obviously place the charges formally before court. "The accused is represented and his defence is taking instructions and the matter. We cannot rely on the evidence that was presented in the commission. We are doing our own investigations, and the police are doing investigations as well to corroborate what has been brought before us. We as the prosecution do have a confession in our possession. We still have to profile the accused in order to determine if he is a first-time offender or not," she said. The matter will be back in court on 1 February.