Cape Town - The family of slain Rocklands High pupil Zanton Basson say that the justice system has failed them after his alleged killer was granted bail.
Micarlo Grove, 22, appeared at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where he was granted bail of R5 000, following his arrest in connection with 17-year-old Zanton’s murder.
Grove, a friend of Zanton’s, is accused of stabbing the teenager in the chest after he corrected him for being rude to an elderly person.
The altercation took place at Westgate Mall in November. Zanton later died in hospital from his wounds.
Grove applied for bail last month, when his lawyer told the court that his client should be granted bail as he was a first-time offender, has a child, and was his family’s breadwinner.
However, it took several attempts from his defence before Grove’s bail was granted, along with a list of bail conditions.
He is not allowed to make contact with Zanton’s family, or with any witnesses.
Grove is also prohibited from going to Mitchells Plain and must stay at another address that his defence provided to the court.
Before his bail was granted, the magistrate highlighted all the evidence gathered by the State and the defence in the case and indicated that the charge of murder is a serious one as the courts have seen on many occasions.
The case was postponed until May 19 for further investigation.
In the meantime, Zanton’s family said that they had been let down and were dissatisfied with the court’s decision.
His grandmother, Glynnis Basson said they are devastated: “It hurts a lot. Here this guy who (allegedly) murdered a young teenager. He is going on with his life, but what about us?”
Basson said it seems that the court considered only the accused’s side.
“They said things about his kid and his finances and now his family is happy, but here we have this emptiness in our heart.
“He can walk around in a house, he can be anywhere he wants to, he still has his freedom.
“A photo and a grave is all that we have. It’s heartbreaking and very sad.”
She said all they can hope for is that justice will prevail in the end.
“The only thing we can do is to pray for justice at the end of the day.”
Zanton was a top achiever and had already been selected as the head boy at Rocklands High for 2023 before he was killed.
He was also a member of the Junior City Council, and wanted to work to stamp out gangsterism in his community.