Patensie residents in march to court

HUNDREDS of Patensie residents marched to the town’s magistrate’s court where two murder suspects were appearing for bail hearings in two separate incidents yesterday.

Police from surrounding police stations were roped in to monitor the protest, which, they said, remained peaceful.

The group of protesters handed over a petition to court officials asking for the murder suspects to be kept behind bars.

The residents were protesting about two early morning murders in Ramaphosa Village in Patensie on May 28.

Elwin Jacobs, 25, is accused of stabbing his girlfriend, Monique du Plooy, 23, to death during an argument at their house in Rooikloof Street.

Jacobs was arrested hours after the murder in Patensie.

A second alleged murderer, Alwethu Mboniswa, 26, was arrested for the killing of Lwando Swepu, 18, inside his Tier Street home.

Mboniswa was on the run and was arrested in Hankey while attempting to get a lift to Port Elizabeth.

Jacobs and Mboniswa appeared in the Patensie Magistrate’s Court in a bid for bail but both cases were postponed until next week.

Shortly after Jacobs’ arrest, angry residents set fire to the informal home in which he lived and torched all the furniture belonging to a relative.

Police spokeswoman Captain Gerda Swart confirmed yesterday that additional police resources had been sent to the protest as a precautionary measure.

“A petition was handed over to the court officials and everything remained calm,” she said.

Both cases were postponed to Tuesday.