A Port Elizabeth man that flung his toddler from the roof of his informal dwelling has been released from custody. He appeared briefly in the New Brighton Magistrate’s court on Tuesday and the case was postponed to May 29.
The man climbed onto the roof of his shack with the child to prevent his home from being demolished. When confronted by police, he tossed the child off the roof.
A small group of residents including the mother were in court to support him. It’s alleged the man tossed the child off the roof to the mother.
The child was caught by a metro policeman who was trying to get the man off the shack. Mthobeki Katali was released after his lawyer argued his client was homeless, could not afford bail and that it was a schedule 1 offence.
Katali was initially charged with attempted murder but that was changed to child abuse.
“I threw the child to the mother. The reason why I did that because the shack was falling apart and I did not want the child to get hurt with me. I was not doing this because I wanted to kill the child.”
The mother of the child says the incident was blown out of proportion.
“I feel relived because I know for a fact that he was not trying to kill the child, the way the media has been interpreting the incident is not the right way they must interpret it, the way it happened,” says the mother, Vuyokazi Katali.
The child and her mother are in the care of social services.
“We knew it was going to be a bit tough to say its attempted murder when we didn’t have proof for that that’s why we decided that the case should be child abuse instead of attempted murder because nobody could prove that he wanted to throw the child anyway so these are the processes that are in motion and the court is trying to deal with this matter,” says Tsepo Ndwalaza, regional National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson.
Close to 100 structures were demolished at Joe Slovo near Kwadwesi.
The community of Joe Slovo say they will continue to support Mthobeki Katali because they believe in his innocence.
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