Cape Town - The case of Elroy Erasmus, a Franschhoek man accused of attacking 37-year-old Andy Makoma with a chainsaw on August 7, was postponed until September 7 for bail judgment at the Paarl Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Erasmus is facing an attempted murder charge after he allegedly attacked Makoma on his birthday in his house and in front of his wife and children, accusing him of insulting his wife earlier on that Saturday.
Meanwhile Makoma’s, wife Sizeka Busuku, confirmed that he was discharged from Tygerberg Hospital and was recovering well at home.
Family friend Andy Farley said there was still “a lot of damage” and wounds that needed to be dressed, however the worst was over.
“The man has survived having his arm cut off, bleeding out to the point of dying from blood loss, and also getting Covid-19 while in the hospital. This made it very difficult to interact with Andy or be there for his recovery, as he was isolated.
“The man has been through one seriously rough ride these last few weeks and is taking it like an absolute champion. This incident has been very taxing on his mind and body but he will come through this. We would like to thank the community for all their generous donations and time spent helping the family directly.
“The list of people who went out of their way to help Andy is very long. We've had some of the young medical doctors from Franschhoek reporting directly from Tygerberg Hospital, keeping a watchful eye on his condition from the start,” he said.
He said through the Back-A-Buddy account they managed to raise a “reasonable amount” that would go a long way in helping Makoma in his recovery.
Farley, who lambasted the way police handled Makoma’s case, said the community were now focusing on getting justice for him. He said the community would create a website and portal to report cases of xenophobic violence in the Franschhoek/Boland region, as well as police corruption and apathy towards violent cases against foreign nationals.
“The more people involved, the better our chances of getting justice and making Franschhoek a safer community for everyone. Every single person deserves to feel safe and to know that when you end up in a situation like this, justice will be swift and unbiased,” he said.