Court protest turns violent in dad’s murder trial
THE family of one of the three men accused of killing a Phoenix father had to duck for cover as a placard demonstration outside court turned violent.
There was pandemonium outside the Verulam Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday when a relative of one of the accused was chased around the parking lot before being caught and beaten up.
The demonstrators claimed the man had kicked a board which had a picture of the deceased and had also sworn at them.
The man sought refuge in the court premises.
Dozens of angry relatives and friends of Donovan Naicker had protested outside the court as his alleged killers – Karl Pretorius, Floyd Reddy and Jensen Reddy – made an appearance.
Naicker, 37, was apparently hit with a brick across his head and stoned in March, allegedly because he had tried to stop an argument.
A father of three, his battered and bloodied body was found on an embankment a few hundred metres from his Cranebridge Close home, where he lived with his mother, Priscilla.
The accused are on R3 000 bail each.
Naicker’s distraught sister, Natasha Naidoo, told the family had enlisted the help of an attorney who would make representation to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to have the bail revoked.
“Within a week before their court appearance, we garnered over 15 000 signatures in a petition which will be handed over to the NPA,” Naidoo said.
“All we want is justice for a man who was robbed of his life and stoned to death,” she said.
“He was someone’s son, brother, and father, who put his life on the line trying to help an elderly man, but he never returned home that day. Our lives will never be the same.
“Today, the community, friends and family have come together to fight for justice. It is not the fact that people are fighting because another human being has passed on, they are fighting for justice because they have all known and experienced the love he had for people and the life he lived. He would never turn his back on people, especially the needy,” said Naidoo.
Former eThekwini speaker Logie Naidoo, who came out to support Naicker’s family, agreed that bail should be revoked.
“A poor mother has lost her son and three young children lost their father as a result of callous actions. We must ensure misdeeds do not happen anymore in our society,” he told
“The deceased and his family need a fair trial and those that are alleged to have committed this atrocity should be sentenced accordingly if proven guilty.”
The matter was postponed for further investigation. The accuseds’ bail was extended until their next appearance in July.