Court proceedings for the accused, who face charges of human trafficking and kidnapping of Joshlin Smith, were preceded by violent clashes.
Police used stun grenades and teargas to disperse a crowd pelting stones and attempting to break through a barbed wire barricade outside the Vredenburg Magistrates Court.
Protesters chanted, “Where were the cops when Joshlin went missing, where were the cops when we searched for him in the early hours, and why did SAPS treat them like animals by barricading them in?” In her address to the court, state prosecutor Advocate Aradhana Heeramun stated that Joshlin’s mother along with, Appollis, and Van Rhyn had abandoned their bail bids.
“I can confirm that in a conversation with provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile that we will be analysing video footage that whoever threw stones were ultimately held accountable. That officer could have lost her eye,” Allen said. The incident, he said, “gives SAPS another chance to see if it is really okay to come to a small place like this; we understand the people’s outrage; and for a postponement, we will talk to the National Prosecuting Authority about whether there is another way to ensure appearance is still done but in a very coordinated manner”.
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