The discovery of Junaid Kirsten‘s (28) body at the Joe Slovo Park bridge on March 14 had emotions running high in Extension One.
Following a search by his family for the missing Kirsten, bloodied clothing and a blood-spattered shopping trolley were discovered at the home of a man believed to have been seen with Junaid before his body was recovered by community leaders continuing the search for three missing youths.
Two other men were implicated in Kirsten’s death and a charge laid at the Eldorado Park Police Station. The three were taken into custody and released on Thursday.
According to a source within the Extension One community, the three were known substance abusers who had been terrorising residents for years, according to residents at the Extension One flats.
Extension One residents baying for their blood gathered at one of their homes demanding answers to Junaid Kirsten’s death and police had to be deployed to maintain calm on Friday.
The crowd smashed flat windows belonging to one of the youths and pelted police vans with rocks. In an effort to maintain calm, police fired live ammunition, injuring a 14-year-old boy.
The injured boy is believed to have sustained an injury to his hand. The gathering crowd marched to the police station with an assortment of weapons, demanding that three be arrested as police battled to maintain order.
Dereleen James and Cheryl Pillay, along with Community Policing Forum members prevailed on the crowd to disperse and a visibly shaken James tried in vain to stop the mob from beating one of the men to death after the crowd chased him into Nebraska Street in Extension Seven.
The man, later identified as Clayton Jassmith succumbed to his injuries and police cordoned off the street while awaiting the arrival of a police forensics specialist. Cheryl Pillay, Liesl Valloo and Abram Pedro, pleaded with Kirsten’s family to prevent similar deaths as Extension One residents held a candlelight vigil chanting, “We want peace. Justice for Junaid.”
Emotions are still high and the remaining two men remain in police custody following this incident. This latest death is adding to what an observer said is fast becoming the endangered species list as young men in their early to late twenties die violent deaths in Eldorado Park.
WATCH VIDEO:
Cheryl Pillay pleading with Junaid Kirsten’s family to maintain calm:
LiSTEN:
Listen to Dereleen James giving an account of the attack:
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