A large group of irate Knysna residents gathered outside the magistrate’s court on Monday demanding that the man accused of killing Velia Strydom be denied bail.
Mervin Bock, 40, is accused of the murder of Strydom, whose body was found in bushes near a gravel road at Red Bridge in Knysna on December 12.
He was arrested on January 1.
Bock appeared briefly in the Knysna magistrate’s court on Monday, where he went on record and agreed to apply for bail before the matter was postponed to January 14.
According to police spokesperson for the Southern Cape region W/O Christopher Spies, police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Strydom’s death.
Strydom, a 39-year-old mother of four, was last seen with her boyfriend the day before she disappeared in early December.
Her uncle, Warrick Langisa, said the family suspected she was missing on December 5 when she failed to pay a regular visit to her mother in Hornley.
Langisa said after dropping her children in Gqeberha, where her ex-husband resides, they questioned her friends about her whereabouts and informed the police that she was missing.
“We are saddened by the incident and pray that her children find the strength to go back to school.
“As school reopens, the family is deeply hurt and wants answers.
“We also do not want the man who is accused of killing Strydom to receive bail.”
On Monday, more than 50 people came to support the family and submit a petition to the court to oppose bail.
Community leader Avril Terblanche said what happened to Strydom was devastating.
Terblanche was one of the community members who organised a march in Knysna during the 16 Days of Activism campaign and handed a petition to the Human Rights Commission and Knysna SAPS.
Terblanche said there had seemingly been an increase in domestic violence cases and murders in the Garden Route region, which was concerning.
The community proposed that the SAPS increase patrols, provide temporary shelter for abused victims, enforce legal protection and enforcement, increase community awareness and education, and that the municipality support the cause.
The Herald
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