A Lotus River dad died after being stabbed while trying to defend his friend during a fight over entjies.
The hartseer family of Emile “Milo” Anthony, 23, say the young dad was knifed in the heart on Monday night during the brawl on a veldjie just metres from his home.
On Tuesday morning, shocked neighbours gathered at Emile’s home in Oribi Avenue where they blamed the government’s ban on cigarette sales for his death.
An 18-year-old witness, who asked not to be named, says the fight started with a man looking to buy a loose entjie in their street.
“It’s because of me the fight started,” the traumatised teen says.
VICTIM: Emile ‘Milo’ Anthony, 23, was stabbed near his Oribi Avenue home in Lotus River
“That guy came here asking for entjies, we were standing outside and we told him that there is no entjies at the shop, and there were people selling entjies, R10 [for] one.”
The teen says the buyer became enraged when he heard the price and started getting violent.
“He told me I am jas and my p*** and the fight started.
“Milo tried to keer af and I walked away and he took out a knife and stabbed him and I just saw my friend dead.”
Aunt Charlene Swartz, 40, says relatives rushed Emile to Retreat Day Hospital but he died on the way there.
The alleged killer fled the scene but angry residents marched to his home, threatening to set him alight.
Grassy Park police arrived shortly afterwards and arrested the suspect.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut confirms the incident and says an 18-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with murder.
Romando Meyer, 18, made his first appearance at Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he was granted R500 bail as he is a first-time offender.
The case was postponed to 16 July for further investigation.
Emile’s girlfriend Tamia Frans, 19, says she worries about how she will raise their two-year-old son, Enzo, on her own.
SHOCK: Emile’s girlfriend Tamia Frans, 19, and son Enzo, two
“We were together for three years and Milo was a good father,” the hartseer woman says.
“He worked at the Purity factory and always provided for his child and his family.
“He was known in the community as someone who always tried to keep the peace. We were planning to get married.”
Charlene says the family intends to lay the young father to rest on Saturday, but they are battling to come to grips with his senseless murder.
“He was a very joyful person. This ban on entjies is making trouble,” she says.
