Cape Town -
The State will oppose bail for two men accused of killing six-year-old Hope van der Merwe in Mitchells Plain last week.
The little girl died after she was shot in the head while playing in a park with her five-year-old friend Jaden Dass.
Jaden was injured in the leg.
On Thursday, Riedewaan Salie and Moegamat Karriem, both accused of murder and attempted murder, appeared briefly in the Mitchells Plain magistrate’s court for the State to obtain bail information.
The court was told that the State would oppose bail.
Outside court, protesters held placards that read: “No bail for child killers” and “Spare our children.”
One protester who declined to give her name said it could have been anyone’s child.
“My six-year-old daughter was also a victim. Last year she was at a shop when shots were fired, someone pushed her inside the shop.
“She was lucky; the guy who shoved her was shot dead.”
The 27-year-old mother said that she would return to court with school children and more residents for the bail application next month.
Last week, the Cape Argus obtained CCTV footage of the clash that led to Hope’s death.
The footage starts with teenagers confronting a man in New Woodlands, Mitchells Plain, demanding his cellphone.
After the pair snatches the phone the man demands it back.
Hope and Jaden can be seen playing a few metres away.
It didn’t take long for back-up to arrive to assist the man. three men can be seen chasing the muggers.
One man leading the pursuit has a gun… they run towards the park and disappear from the frame. Four shots are fired.
Hope is hit in the head and Jaden falls as he is shot in the right leg.
The case was postponed to January 15 for a bail application.
Cape Argus