Durban -
The brother of murdered teenager Nathan van Reenen, who was stabbed when he went to the aid of a woman being mugged, said he was “relieved and happy” that the alleged killer had been caught.
Scelo Chiya appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with theft and murder in connection with the incident last December.
Nathan, 16, a pupil at York High School in George, in the Western Cape, was killed when he tried to help a 33-year-old Durban woman whose cellphone was stolen outside a nightclub near the Moses Mabhida Stadium. He jumped out of the car he was in and chased the mugger, who stabbed him in the neck. He died soon afterwards.
Nathan was in Durban visiting his brother, Luke, who said: “That is amazing. I am happy to hear that someone has been caught,” He added that his parents were battling to cope with Nathan’s death.
Prosecutor Blackie Swart said the State was opposed to Chiya’s being released on bail. He said he had been charged in connection with another incident, this month, in which a cellphone had been snatched at a hotel.
The court heard that Chiya had been arrested for the murder in December but had been released when he could not be identified
. However, Swart said police had “strong evidence” against Chiya.
He will appear in court again next week for a bail application.
The Mercury