Pretoria - The man accused of killing three children in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, appeared in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Judge Nico Coetzee postponed the matter to Wednesday, when the trial was expected to begin.
Coetzee, addressing counsel, said the trial was expected to take five to six days.
Thokozani Radebe is charged with murdering five-year-old Anelisa Mkondo in September last year, and cousins Yonelisa and Zandile Mali, aged two and three. The Malis were found dead in a toilet cubicle in Diepsloot extension one on October 15 last year.
Radebe is also accused of raping and kidnapping the Mali girls.
Wearing a striped blue and yellow T-shirt and with his head clean-shaven, Radebe nodded and was led from the courtroom.
National Prosecuting Authority head Mxolisi Nxasana said last year, after charges were withdrawn against four others for the killings, that Radebe had confessed to killing the Mali children.
“What is comforting is accused number five (Radebe), who is the remaining accused... has confessed to the murders, although he hasn't done it in court,” he said on November 1 last year.
“We are hoping that in time, after consulting with his legal representative, he will plead guilty to the charges and we are hoping to secure a conviction of three murders.”
Sapa