The family of Alfredo April would have been very disappointed when they walked out of the Malmesbury Magistrates court on Thursday morning as the case of Alfredo April has been postponed once again to 27 November 2023 for further investigation. The case was previously postponed due to outstanding evidence including photographs from the crime scene and DNA results.
“A young man’s throat was slashed and he was left to die and two suspects have been taken into custody. The court has everything they need to get justice, but as a result of difficulties at the court, the family has to hear the case being postponed time and time again. They can’t get closure and every time their pain and frustration just gets worse and worse,” said Action Society’s Kaylynn Palm.
According to Alfredo’s mother, Sophia, the 39-year-old man left the house just after 01:00 on June 29 to give a friend a bus fare via his cell phone. “I asked him why he was up so early and he explained to me that a friend needed money to go to town. I told him not to go, but being the person he is, he insisted that his friend really needed help,” she said.
At around 2am she heard someone shouting in the streets, saying ‘aunty sissy, aunty sissy, they hurt him, he is calling for you!’ She immediately knew something was wrong and ran toward the voice but it was too late. Sophia saw her son bleeding out on the stoep of a house where he was shouting for help while holding a beanie to his neck where he had been cut.
Sophia says her son was a pillar of the community and treated everyone with kindness and respect. He had also recently opened his own salon. Action Society says justice delayed is justice denied, and South Africa’s broken justice system has left another shattered family wondering if they will ever see justice be done.
