The man accused of the rape and murder of 12-year-old Michaela Williams in Cape Town was on parole after serving time for an attack on another child, angry family and friends heard in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Michaela’s mother Beatrice Adams was so distraught that she started crying out helplessly and hyperventilating as she waited in the packed court to see the man accused of murdering her daughter.

READ: Man accused of killing Michaela Williams, 12, ‘lived two doors away’

Friends held her and prayed fervently over her, and finally helped her out of the court for some fresh air.

Michaela went missing in Pelican Park near Muizenberg on January 7. She was reported missing, and, according to initial information submitted to Magistrate Goolam Bawa the accused co-operated with police and her body was found.

He was arrested and faces charges of rape and murder.

Bawa ordered that no pictures nor his name be published either in the news media or on social media. He issued a stern warning that there would be consequences if anybody posted it on Facebook or elsewhere.

This is for the purpose of a final identification process and other aspects of the investigation.

The accused, a thin man wearing a vest under a grubby shirt, said very little during the appearance as police kept a stern watch on the public gallery to make sure everybody stayed quiet for his appearance.

Prosecutor Nicky Konisi said the State would oppose bail, but the accused’s Legal Aid lawyer Kyle Jason said his client would not be applying for bail.

A long remand date was set so that all the necessities of the investigation can be gathered, and he will return via “court TV” on April 14. This means he will appear via a feed from prison which will be screened in court.

As soon as the accused turned in the dock to go down the steps back to the holding cells, angry residents could not hold it in any longer.

‘You rubbish! You are evil’

“Pig!” they shouted in Afrikaans. “You rubbish! You are evil,” they shouted as orderlies tried to shush them and prevent them from rushing into the dock.

Among those in court were members of Cape Town’s Walking Bus initiative who walk with children to school and back. It’s one of a multitude of measures by communities to keep themselves and their children safe from gangsters, predators and murderers.

Outside court, handmade signs that read “Leave our children alone” and “No bail” were tied to trees opposite the court.

Eskom has denied telling municipalities that stage 8 load shedding is imminent, describing media articles claiming this to be “erroneous and incorrect”.

In a statement on Tuesday, the power utility said that while it has developed contingency plans for a severe supply constraints this does not mean that it is planning to implement stage 8 load shedding, which would see up to 8 000MW shed from the national grid.The highest level of power cuts Eskom has yet implemented is stage 6.

“When Stage 6 load shedding was implemented in December, not all metros or municipalities had published their extended load shedding schedules,” said Eskom in a statement. “The Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities therefore engaged most of its members to confirm their compliance to the code – i.e. whether stages 5 to 8 had been published by those Metro’s that had not yet done so.”The utility said in a separate statement that it is not planning power cuts on Tuesday, as emergency reserves would likely be adequate to supplement a shortfall in generation capacity on should the need arise.

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Angry community members demanded retribution on Monday outside a court where a man accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in Cape Town appeared.

Many called for the return of the death penalty after discovering that the man had been released on parole after serving part of a 20-year sentence for rape, before he allegedly attacked Michaela Williams.

The Wynberg magistrate’s court heard that the 48-year-old man, who cannot yet be identified, was released on parole in 2018.

He lived in the same neighbourhood as his alleged victim’s family.Western Cape police said in a statement on Thursday that Michaela’s mother reported her missing on January 8, after which a search got under way.

“Vital information was followed as part of the investigation and the suspect [was] interviewed. The interview led to him pointing out where the body was. The suspect has subsequently been charged with murder,” said the police.

“A postmortem will soon be conducted to determine how she died and whether more charges could be added.”

According to the charge sheet, the suspect is being charged with rape and murder.

Before the hearing started, Michaela’s mother Beatrice Adams burst into tears in the gallery.

The suspect, wearing glasses, a yellow T-shirt and tracksuit pants, was not asked to plead. He stared straight ahead during the brief hearing.Prosecutor Nicky Konisi told magistrate Goolam Bawa that the state would oppose bail and asked for a lengthy postponement. She said postmortem results and statements were still outstanding.

“I would like to ask the court to bar the media and the public from publishing the name [and picture] of the accused until further notice. It is still early in the investigation,” said Konisi.

Bawa granted her the request. “The court is going to order that the identity of the accused [not be revealed] in any manner,” he said.

“Members of the media and the public are ordered not to publish his name or his picture. The members of the public, if you post pictures of the accused on Facebook, you may be charged.”

Police had their hands full removing throngs of angry people who could not find seats in court. “This case is sensitive and emotions run high. If you came to listen, please do that – listen. If we can’t control ourselves, it means we are part of the problem,” said Bawa.

Speaking through his lawyer Kyle Jason, the suspect said he did not intend applying for bail.

The matter was postponed until April 14.

“The death penalty must be brought back,” said activist Shariefa Daniels outside court.

“I feel very, very sad. This man was out on parole on a rape case. Had the authorities told us about it, we could have warned our children about him.

“The justice system has failed us.”

Community members demonstrate outside the Wynberg magistrate’s court as the alleged child killer appeared inside.

Six people collapsed and were taken to hospital – five of them in a critical condition – after apparently ingesting an unknown substance in the Cape Town suburb of Wetton on Monday.

ER24 spokesperson Russell Meiring said the ambulance service was initially alerted to several people in desperate need of help.

“It is believed to have been some sort of poisoning incident. All those affected had ingested some sort of substance which is not yet known,” he told TimesLIVE.

It is not known if the victims were related or knew one another.

Cape Town law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said: “City law enforcement officers on patrol in Wetton were alerted to an incident in which three males and one female had collapsed at a bus stop.”

He said the victims received medical attention at the scene by paramedics, adding that “one of them was experiencing convulsions”.As the paramedics were treating them, another person was reported lying on the pavement in nearby Walnut Road and a sixth had collapsed on the corner of St Joseph’s Road and Wetton Road.

“The patients were treated for their injuries and provided with several advanced life support interventions before they were transported to nearby hospitals for further care,” said Meiring.

A long-distance minibus taxi crashed in the Eastern Cape on Monday, killing five children.
Image: 123RF/Elizabeth Crego
Five children were killed and 16 other passengers injured when a long-distance minibus taxi rolled on the R61 near Ngcobo, in the Eastern Cape, early on Monday.

The taxi was ferrying passengers from the Western Cape when it left the road near Beyeye Locality, Manzana Village, at around 5am.

“The taxi rolled, fatally injuring five passengers, who are believed to be children between five and 14 years of age. Sixteen others, including the driver, were seriously injured and all rushed to the hospital at Ngcobo,” said police spokesperson Capt Khaya Tonjeni.

“The identities of all the deceased are still being withheld as some of their relatives are yet to be informed of their deaths.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Acting provincial police commissioner Maj-Gen Andries Swart conveyed his condolences to the families who lost their relatives and wished the injured a speedy recovery.