Cape Town man accused of stabbing child changes lawyers

The man accused of stabbing an 18-month-old toddler in the head while a children’s party was happening nearby will remain in custody after he changed lawyers in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Sello Richard made a brief appearance so that his new lawyer Greg Duncan could go on record.

He did not speak as he stood in the dock with shaved hair and a short beard.

He was supposed to have applied for bail, but instead went back to prison to wait until November 7 for his application.

He is accused of stabbing the toddler in the head when the child wandered off and into his flat in the gated complex in Parklands, Cape Town.

The child’s family believe that the attack may have been linked to xenophobia, as they are originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They also felt as though they were being kept out of the loop regarding court appearances due to their country of origin, and staged a protest outside the court when they were not informed of a change in the date of his appearance.

They held up pictures of the child’s bandaged head. One is among pictures that refugees and asylum seekers have pasted on a pillar at the Waldorf Arcade in St George’s Mall in the CBD, where they were holding a sit-in over safety fears.

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