The case against the duo accused of the rape and murder of 10-year-old Chanelle McCrawl was postponed yesterday “due to a conflict of interest”.
Carlo de Kock and Stanton Mano returned to the dock for a formal bail application, but the case was postponed for two weeks after Legal Aid lawyer Rustin Ravat said there was a conflict of interest and a new lawyer had to be appointed for De Kock.
The pair will appear in court again on December 6.
A family member who did not want to be named said the trauma “is still very raw”.
“We still miss her every day,” the family member said.
McCrawl’s mother was not present at court proceedings yesterday.
Manenberg organisation Women For Change protested with supporters outside court ahead of the pair’s court appearance and called for “no bail for child killers” and “justice for Chanelle”.
Washiela Henry from Women For Change said they didn’t want any further children wrenched from their community the way McCrawl was taken from them.
“We are standing up for justice for our children who are being raped and murdered. We are united and standing up today because we are also mothers.
“We need to go back to basics and say your child is my child. We are here today and we feel hurt for what was done to (Chanelle) and we want justice today. We want change in our community,” Henry said.
State prosecutor Phumeza Mtuyedwa-Zondi said bail would be opposed.
Police also had to calm the public, who hurled slurs at De Kock and Mano just before their appearance.
McCrawl’s lifeless body was found on the Vygieskraal riverbank in Manenberg on October 20.
She was reported missing the day before when she did not arrive at school.
McCrawl was a Grade 4 pupil at Edendale Primary School and was described as a child who enjoyed dancing.
De Kock, the uncle of slain McCrawl, and his co-accused were arrested after police found traces of human blood in a wheelie bin in Audrey Court, Manenberg.