Cape Town – A man accused of stabbing a Chinese shop assistant during an armed robbery, causing her near-fatal wounds to her neck, was refused bail when he appeared in the Goodwood District Court on Wednesday.
Elrich van Wyk, 44, appeared before magistrate Sean Lea, who ruled that Van Wyk's release on bail was not in the interests of justice.
The alleged incident happened on December 16 when Van Wyk entered Hong Kong Fashions in Ravensmead, supposedly to purchase batteries costing R13. He paid the money, but when the assistant rang the till to finalise the transaction, he allegedly made two grabs for the cash in the till. The assistant managed to resist his first attempt, but when she tried to stop his second attempt, he stabbed her twice in the neck.
The court heard that passers-by witnessed the incident and hastened to help the shop assistant.
Police, which had stepped up patrols in the vicinity following a heist a few days earlier at a supermarket across the road from the fashion store, heard the commotion and their immediate action resulted in Van Wyk's arrest at the scene, the court heard.
Van Wyk faces charges of attempted murder and theft.
He told the court he would plead guilty to stabbing the woman, but that his motive had not been robbery. Van Wyk said he had asked for batteries, but that the assistant had repeatedly offered him the incorrect size, and this had agitated him. At which point prosecutor Anaan Gelderblom asked: "So you stabbed her?"
Van Wyk could not explain why he had twice made a grab for the cash in the till, if his motive had not been robbery.
The magistrate said the theft charge would probably be changed to attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances.
He said the violence used in the incident was of a serious nature and that Van Wyk's release on bail was likely to cause an uproar in the Chinese community. He said Van Wyk was a danger to the community and that his release on bail was not in the interests of justice.
Van Wyk was remanded to January 25.