Over 800 people, mostly from the Lwandle community near Strand, have signed a petition against the release of a man accused of murdering Noxolo Xakeka who was lesbian.

Activist group Triangle Project handed in the petition at the Strand Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where the 26-year-old accused, Bongile Joni, made his second appearance.

In the early hours of 1 January, Xakeka came home from night shift and joined a party with her partner and friends, less than 250 metres from her home. It is alleged that Joni harassed her by making “derogatory comments” about her sexual orientation. An argument between the two escalated into a physical altercation. Witnesses say Xakeka hit Joni with a plank. He stabbed her twice. She died in hospital hours later. She was 23.

Xakeka’s parents have since moved to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape to care for her six-year-old son.

In court on Thursday, four police officers wearing bulletproof vests stood near the public gallery and entrance to the room while the accused was in the dock. Monja Posthumus-Meyjes, lawyer at the Stellenbosch University Law Clinic, handed the petition to the court on behalf of Triangle Project to have the accused’s bail revoked. She said that it was “not the first time a hate crime has occurred in the community”. Read more via Ground Up