Cape Town - A Bontheuwel man has been warned by the court not to enter the area as part of his bail conditions after being charged with culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving.
Gershwin Jacobs, 32, on Wednesday appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court after he was hospitalised following an accident on Sunday that killed 18-year-old Taytim-Lee Hendricks.
It is alleged that Jacobs was drunk as he drove down Bonteheuwel Avenue on Sunday at about 4pm.
He was speeding in a maroon Opel Corsa, hitting a pedestrian, a gate and eventually knocking into Hendricks as the car crashed into a wall in Bluegum Street.
The impact knocked Hendricks with such force that she landed on the roof of a nearby house. The Spine Road High School learner was still alive as she lay on the roof but died in hospital on Monday due to injuries.
The NPA’s Eric Ntabazalila confirmed, “Gershwin Jacobs appeared at the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court today charged with culpable homicide. “He was granted bail of R5 000 which was reduced to R3 000 with conditions attached.
“The conditions include that he must not visit Bonteheuwel and Valhalla Park and must stay at an alternative address.
“The case was then postponed until 22 February 2023 for further investigation,” he said.
Hendricks’ mother Mishka Adams said: “The mere fact that the lawyer said that he has a wife and kids, he has a wife to get back to, I don’t have my daughter anymore and that is what hurts me the most, so how dare they say that he is going to get bail.”
Ward councillor Angus Mckenzie who supported the family at court said, “it kicks this case off on completely the wrong note and it speaks so much more about the dysfunctions within the criminal justice system that leaves thousands of cases without justice”.