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| Franziska Blöchliger |
Those who currently live there, as well as former residents, were among those who showed their support for the family of Franziska Blöchliger.
They attended the appearance of four men at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
It emerged the men were charged with murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and three counts of rape.
According to the charge sheet, three of the accused come from Westlake. One lives in Steenberg.
Pollsmoor prison, renowned for housing hardened gangsters, bordered these areas.
The crime scene was barely two kilometres away.
“I don’t think it’s right what they did to an innocent child… they must be punished for their deeds,” said Karen Lewin, who grew up in Westlake Village.
She emphasised that most people who lived there were decent and law-abiding.
“You can’t blame everyone there.”
A mysterious drug runner
Residents around her nodded their heads.
Keeping their identities secret for fear they could be targeted, they opened up about what they knew of the accused.
A woman who used to live next to one of them said he had appeared in court before on a charge of housebreaking. “That is their hobby.”
She added that there was a man in their community, “Farouk”, who was known for influencing their youngsters.
“He is using young children to work for him and he pays them in drugs.
Another resident referred to one of the accused as “an old criminal”.
Some felt that tik, or methamphethamine, explained the violent nature of the attack.
A car guard who read a newspaper article about possible drug use in the attack, piped up: “That is no excuse. I was on tik for 10 years. Been clean for five years. It’s no excuse.”
The accused will remain in custody until their appearance for a bail application next Friday.
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