Cape Town - The man accused of killing young veterinarian Dr Natheem Jacobs had his case postponed because the director of public prosecutions must still decide under which scheduled offence to charge him.
Jovan Williams appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stabbing Dr Jacobs on March 2.
The 38-year-old handed himself over to Athlone police after his picture went viral on social media.
The accused walked into the court and when he spotted his family in the public gallery filled with Jacobs’ supporters, he kept looking at them.
The SPCA vet, 27, heard a noise outside his Garlandale home and went to investigate. When he arrived at his wife’s car he reportedly saw the accused trying to steal the wheels. He was stabbed to death during the confrontation.
In the charge sheet, it was stated that Williams’s cellphone was found on the scene.
Al Jama-ah PR councillor Shameema Salie said the arrest of the suspect took too long.
“We reported to the police several times that he was seen roaming the streets. We decided to put the poster up about Williams on social media and that is how he decided to hand himself over to the police.”
The State said he had been convicted before for a firearm offence but was unable to say if it was for possession of a firearm or ammunition.
His run-ins with the law include drugs and malicious damage to property.
The State said that the accused was charged with the Schedule 6 offence because of the previous conviction, but the defence argued it was a conviction for an ammunition offence and therefore it should be Schedule 5.
The case was postponed to next week for the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to decide on which schedule to go with.
Natheem’s mother, Zulykha Jacobs said she wanted justice for her son.
“He murdered my son and if Schedule 5 will give him a lesser sentence then that won’t do it.
“He must be given the maximum sentence, we don’t want anything less. We will not be happy with Schedule 5 because we all know that he is guilty and that alone should be the reason to go with a Schedule 6 offence.
“We heard in court that the accused had been involved in other criminal activities and that means nothing to me. All that matters is that he pays for what he did.”