The 17-year-old male suspect accused of the murder of the Grabouw teen Deveney Nel will be back in the docks at the Caledon Magistrates’ Court on Friday 25 October.
The expected court appearance follows after an application for the accused to undergo psychiatric evaluation was submitted by the accused’s legal representatives during a brief court appearance on Wednesday 16 October.
On Friday, the court will be addressed on the application and the case heard in camera as the accused is a minor and being tried in accordance with the Child Justice Act. This means his identity may never be known, even after he turns 18.
During his appearance last week, gender-based violence (GBV) activists gathered outside the court, calling for the revision of the act, stating it protected juvenile suspects and perpetrators instead of victims.
Tanya Bippert of 1 Billion Rising, an international organisation fighting for justice for GBV victims, said: “One of the things we need to do is have the lawmakers go back to the Child Justice Act, because this act, which is supposed to protect Deveney Nel, is now protecting the alleged perpetrator.
“When these laws were drawn up there were isolated incidents [involving juvenile accused] but in present times, unfortunately, more and more crimes are being committed by minors.”
Regarding application for psychiatric evaluation, Bippert described it as “a load of BS”.
“If you look at how he (reportedly) acted after the murder, it was very cold and calculated. He was allegedly involved in the search for her with the lift club, and I was told he even wrote a letter and took flowers to the memorial service.”
The suspect was arrested hours after attending a memorial service for Deveney, whose body was discovered in a storeroom at Caledon High School during a search. This after the 16-year-old victim had been reported missing after failing to show up for her lift from school to her home in Grabouw on Wednesday 7 August.
During the accused’s previous appearance in September, a petition asking that he not be released on bail, that he receive the maximum sentence if convicted and that he not be held in a place of safety for youth was handed to authorities. The petition was signed by more than 1 400 people.
Bippert called on the community to come out in their numbers on Friday to support not only the call for “Justice for Deveney Nel” but also “Justice for Dimpho Skelenge”. Skelenge’s body was found with several stab wounds on 7 September 2022 in a room she had rented when she moved to Caledon, reportedly to escape her ex-boyfriend Wiseman Ndara.
Ndara was arrested shortly after the gruesome find and charged with Skelenge’s murder. He will also appear in the Caledon Regional Court on Friday 25 October for plea and sentencing procedures.
