The Ntuzuma Magistrate Court will next week hand down its ruling in the bail application of a man accused of the brutal murder of an openly gay man, Sphamandla Khoza, in the area, north of Durban, in March.
The court was packed when Thando Mgenge’s bail application was heard.
The Khoza family and members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of South Africa closely followed the proceedings.
Mgenge wants the court to release him on bail. During his bail hearing, he told the court that he has been cooperating with police.
He says he handed over some of the evidence that the police needed.
The 25-year-old father of two told the court he will relocate to an alternative address should he be granted bail. He has no previous convictions.
GLASA calls for no bail for Sphamandla Khoza murder suspect:
Crimes against LGBTQI community on the rise
The state is opposing bail. The state argued that violence against the LGBTQI community is on the rise and if bail is granted, it may cause a public outcry.
Outside the court, Director of the KwaZulu-Natal LGBT Recreation organisation, Hlengiwe Buthelezi, slammed Mgenge’s reasons to be released on bail.
“Sphamandla was also loved as a gay son because he has never hidden that. This is to say he also has a family, he has got his partner who is still devastated. As an organisation, we are still nursing his situation; he has us as his friends. He was such a person who would not start trouble; why was he killed? For me, it cannot stand that in the court of law to say the killer has a three-year-old daughter or son and then he is a compliant citizen. The fact that he was able to kill, that is enough to say he’s a gruesome criminal that does not need to come back to our community.”
Thando Mgenge to apply for bail for alleged homophobic murder:
Buthelezi says KwaZulu-Natal is seemingly becoming hostile towards the queer community.
“Yes, I agree that it seems KZN seems to have become a hotspot of hate crime, reason being – there has been a number of cases that have happened; not just in Durban, because we have had cases in Eshowe. We are calling upon all kinds of legal institutions, from the Justice Department to the police themselves, we are saying in isiZulu sekwanele (it is enough). Even going out on a street, we are asking ourselves who is next; really who is next? These are the people coming from the families, the ones that are killed. We are born this way; it is not a style, it is not something that you sleep and wake up and you become. Why must be killed for how you were created by God?”
The Ntuzuma Magistrate Court will hand down its ruling in the bail application on 28 April.
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