The man accused of killing 12-year-old Firdous Kleinsmidt has abandoned his bail application.
Yesterday morning, Lorenzo Brown made his second appearance in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court following his arrest for the murder of Firdous, who was struck by a stray bullet at the Ieglassi Nieyah Primary School last Tuesday.
That morning, anti-crime groups warned parents who have children in the Beacon Valley area that there was a gang war brewing and to be vigilant.
Firdous’ transport had arrived and as she was walking to it, she was shot in the eye. Her driver said she saw the child collapse in front of her.
That same night, residents went and burnt a car at Brown’s home.
Following his first court appearance his mother told the Daily Voice her son was innocent, saying: “First of all, I would like to extend my condolences to the family of the deceased.
“I saw the news report today of all these high people that were in court and I asked myself why they were there and my answer is political. I didn’t raise a gangster.
“I worked 15 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide for my family and look at what Pagad did to my house and my car. Yes, those things don’t belong to Lorenzo, it is mine.
“There are people in the road who saw Lorenzo at home at the time of the shooting but are too scared to come forward and another thing is, why don’t the police say that the key witness is a rival gang member?”
Brown was arrested a day after the shooting and made his first appearance on Friday where the court heard that he had faced a murder charge before but it was provisionally withdrawn.
On Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the accused abandoned his right to apply for bail and the case has been postponed until 28 March.
Lynn Phillips of the Cape Flats Safety Forum said it’s a good thing Brown decided to abandon bail but warns people must remain vigilant.
She says: “I think he thought of his safety after the protest that happened. Now this is a challenge for communities to be assertive with regards to retaliation from certain gangs and that is an issue. The community has to be vigilant.”