Outrage as trio discharged for lack of evidence

THREE men accused of killing a 27-year-old man, allegedly because he refused to be part of a gang, have been set free.

The defence team of Keano Petersen, Ryan Petersen and Keenan de Vos made appearances at the Mitchells Plain Regional Court. The three men were charged with the murder of Brandon Lawrence.

The State’s case was that Lawrence had been on his way to the ATM at the BP garage in Woodlands, accompanied by a relative who became a witness in the case.

The State alleged that the trio opened fire on Lawrence, who died at the scene on July 2, 2020.

Lawrence’s father, Nathan Rajap, was also shot and killed on July 2, 1997 – 23 years ago to the day.

The apparent motive behind Lawrence’s murder was that he refused to be part of a gang and had allegedly been terrorised and assaulted before the murder.

Brandon had been studying IT and took a break during lockdown and helped to support his mother, Lorraine Lawrence.

The accused’s defence team called for a discharge on the basis that the State had not proved its case and that there was a lack of evidence.

Magistrate Mary Jwacu found that there were grounds to rule in favour of a discharge and the men were set free on Thursday.

Lorraine Lawrence said: “I am hurt and frustrated. He said, ’They want me to be a gangster and I won’t let them dictate to me.’ My son was a gentleman and he was the breadwinner. I do not understand this, because there has been a witness.”

A representative of the Mitchells Plain Residents Association said they were dissatisfied with the decision.

“A discharge is mainly based on an interpretation of ‘no evidence’ – not actually no evidence, but rather poor evidence – which was a shame because as the community, we believed that that section should be ejected from our laws based on the fact that there is no jurors in our courts any more, and also if we talk about a fair trial – what about the fairness towards the witness that was cross-examined to the utmost, risking his life to come forward and give the evidence?

“When will we find a moral truth by those who commit such hideous crimes because they are aware of all the loopholes in our justice system? I wish to say our officers should be more willing to investigate 110% to be sure they serve our community gracefully and build that trust.”