A young Delft man has been stabbed to death, allegedly by someone who had been tormenting him for months for being gay.
Diego Jacobs, 21, was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning in the Empolweni informal settlement, aka Covid in Delft.
His family believes he was killed because of his sexual orientation.
His aunt, Naomi du Preez, says the incident took place after midnight as Diego and two female friends returned home from a nearby shebeen where they went to buy dop.
Naomi says: “Diego walked into the suspect and they almost got into a fight, then the two friends said Diego must leave it and they continued to walk.”
“The suspect then turned around and stabbed Diego in the neck, swore at him and told him ‘jou moffie’. The knife broke off in his neck.
“The suspect is not a stranger because he and Diego had previous altercations where he threatened Diego and said, ‘jy sal sien, ek gaan jou kry’. But Diego didn’t take it seriously although he knew that not a lot of people are accepting of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“They used to live opposite each other and he didn’t like Diego and he would always call Diego ‘die lelike moffie’.”
Naomie says her nephew was supposed to start a new job on Monday at a call centre.
Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, confirms that an arrest has been made and says Delft Police are investigating a case of murder.
He reports: “We can confirm that a 20-year-old man has since been arrested on the mentioned charge and is expected to make a court appearance in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court once charged. The motive for this attack is still under investigation.”
Naomi says Diego’s sickly mom is not taking his death well.
She explains: “He was her helper at home. she is chronic and receives a disability grant, so his untimely death is also taking a toll on her because he was not in a burial fund and she suffers from depression.
“His mom lives in a shack with no water and electricity, so we are trying to help where we can.”
“We feel that justice must prevail and that our ‘moffie’ sons must not be targeted by those that want to hurt and kill our innocent sons. The family accepted his sexuality, we never had a problem because he has been like that since he was small and he was proud.”
The family is appealing for assistance with Diego’s funeral, if you’d like to help contact 0618120249.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za