Racial dramas in court

Legal woes are piling up for University of Cape Town student Chad de Matos, who is facing charges relating to an alleged assault on a Cape Town mother and hurling racial slurs at her.

De Matos, 19, a first-year bachelor of business science student, yesterday hopped from one courtroom to another at the Wynberg Magistrate's Court to answer to a litany of charges.

In the morning, De Matos and his co-accused, Aaron Mack and Mitchell Turner, both 20, appeared on charges of attempted murder related to an alleged attack on Delia Adonis outside the Tiger Tiger Club, in Claremont last month.

The case was postponed to February 5.

In the afternoon De Matos was back in another courtroom to answer to reckless and negligent driving charges.

He allegedly drove into Claremont businesswoman Amanda Moore's car, which was parked in her yard in the early hours of February 28.

Moore told The Times she intended suing De Matos.

"He drove through the wall and smashed my car, reversed out and drove away," said Moore.

"I saw on his Facebook page that he was very proud because he had got his car back and it was fixed. But my car is not. He still hasn't paid me for damages. My business is closed because I can't run it without a car. I am going to sue him."

The case was postponed to March 27 next year.

This is the second case involving UCT students to be heard in the Wynberg court this month.

Djavane Arrigone, 19, a first-year BCom student at UCT, has been charged with assault and crimen injuria after allegedly urinating on the head of taxi driver, Michelle Puis Nomgcana, from the balcony of the Tiger Tiger nightclub.

UCT is investigating both cases, which could result in the students being expelled.

According to the state, De Matos, Mack, Turner and two others not yet arrested, attacked Adonis, who is a cleaner, at Stadium on Main, close to the Tiger Tiger Club, on October 17.

They were arrested this week after it was alleged that investigating officer Andy Hendricks had misled the prosecution by falsely claiming that Adonis had withdrawn her allegations.

Hendricks allegedly embezzled from the students money intended for Adonis's medical expenses, and took R700 from them to quash the case.

He was arrested on Wednesday and appeared in court yesterday charged with defeating the ends of justice and corruption.

In another race-related case heard in the Wynberg court yesterday, protesters chased Cape Town swimming coach Tim Osrin as he tried to leave the court without being seen.

Osrin, who allegedly assaulted domestic worker Cynthia Joni because he believed she was a prostitute, appeared briefly in the court yesterday.

Chanting supporters of the Sex Workers' Education and Advocacy Taskforce (Sweat), carrying placards that read "This is bigger than Tim Osrin" and "Black lives matter", waited outside the court for him to emerge.

Osrin, who hid under a black hooded windbreaker in court before stepping into the dock, was close to dodging the pack but was spotted.

The group confronted him briefly, yelling: "He's a coward!"

Sweat's Cherith Sanger said: "This is how far stigma goes. He believed she was a sex worker and on that basis he assaulted her. And he believed that was okay."

The case was postponed to January 20.