Cape Town - A 17-year-old minor accused of killing 22-year-old gay man Lonwabo Jack from Nyanga has abandoned his bail application.
The juvenile appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after his initial appearance last week following his arrest where he was charged for murder.
The case was postponed until May 25 for further investigations.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the accused will remain at a place of safety in Bonnytoun.
Jack’s murder sparked a lot of outrage and numerous marches in Nyanga with the community calling for the case to be escalated to the provincial detectives.
Last week Nyanga police station commander Vuyisile Ncata revealed that a bloodied knife that was allegedly used to kill Jack was found.
He said semen which was also found on his private parts was taken to the lab and that investigations were almost complete, awaiting results from the lab.
“We are opposing bail as we want him to be kept in custody.
“The suspect is a juvenile and sometimes it is not easy to oppose bail for a juvenile as there is the Child Justice Act that specifically protects the rights of children that are in conflict with the law.
“We have done it in the past and we have lost some and won some cases,” he said.
Justice for Lonwabo campaign representative Selina Tyatyeka said it would be in the best interest of the community for the suspect to remain in custody.
“We however are not satisfied with the direction that the case is taking.
“The suspect had confessed to killing Lwando but we were told that there is still more investigations to be conducted, what are those investigations?
“We want this case to be transferred to the (Western Cape) High Court to avoid what happened to previous cases.
“Numerous cases of this nature have disappeared into thin air and we do not want that to happen again.
“We will march until the magistrate recognises that the suspect is a danger to the community, ” said Tyayeka.