JOHAN Nel grinned, whistled and gave the thumbs-up sign to reporters as a crowd bayed for his blood outside the Swartruggens Magistrate's Court yesterday .
Emotions ran high at the second court appearance of the 18-year-old, accused of killing four people and wounding six on a shooting spree, allegedly racially motivated, at the Skielik informal settlement in North West almost two weeks ago.
It is alleged that Nel took his father's .303 rifle and gunned down Ikgopoleng Anna Moiphitlhi, her three-month-old baby, Keditlhotse, Sivuyile Dinana, 30, and 10-year-old Tshepo Motshelanoka.
He allegedly fled the scene only after he ran out of ammunition.
He was arrested on a farm neighbouring his father's.
Yesterday, the courtroom was packed with relatives of the victims and with politicians, including ANC MP Patrick Chauke, Young Communist League national secretary Buti Manamela and North West MEC for safety Phenye Vilakazi.
Nel, in the same blue shirt and grey tracksuit pants he wore at his first appearance, seemed bemused by all the attention.
He appeared to sneer at the relatives of his alleged victims from the dock.
He grinned when he saw the contingent of journalists and tapped his fingers on the dock, seemingly impatient to get on with the proceedings.
In an unusual move, Magistrate Andre Kleynhans addressed the court and reporters before postponing the case to February 12.
"It is only natural that emotions are running high in the community," he said. "I was told the families of the victims are in court today and I want to assure them we understand their sadness."
The magistrate made three requests: "I appeal to everyone in court to remain calm. I appeal to everyone to keep a level head, and I appeal to everyone to let justice run its course and allow the court to do its work."
Kleynhans explained that, because of the seriousness of the charges against Nel, his trial would be referred to a high court as soon as the investigation was completed.
Nel was handcuffed and led out of the court room. He gave the thumbs-up to photographers waiting outside and made a peace sign in their direction.
Vilakazi praised the magistrate: "I think he did the right thing, explaining what is happening.
"But I find it extremely sad that we live in a society where someone can get up in the morning, take a gun and go and shoot random people just because of their race," he said. "It is sickening and we will not stand for it"
Nel's legal team was expected to bring an application yesterday for him to be sent for psychiatric evaluation, but his lawyer, Frikkie Pretorius, said the request would be made at the next court appearance.
"We have appointed a criminologist and a psychiatrist to evaluate the accused and we will bring the application on February 12. We did not apply today because we have been told there are no beds available at Weskoppies [psychiatric hospital]."
When asked how Nel was coping with his detention, Pretorius answered: "Fine. They're not treating him badly."
He said he had advised the Nel family not to come to court as there were fears for their safety.
Despite the magistrate's plea for calm, emotions boiled over as the police tried to take Nel away from the court.
Hundreds of residents of Skielik and surrounding areas blocked the only entrance to the court building. Police were forced to retreat and Nel was taken back to the court's holding cells while a new plan for his departure was devised.
A policeman at the scene said the police wanted to take Nel over the back wall of the courts, but protesters caught wind of this and, in a flash, surrounded the property.
"We want Nel! We want Nel!" they shouted.
Chauke tried to intervene, asking the crowd to allow the police vehicle to leave, but the group shouted him down: "No, no, no! We want Nel!"
Some protesters carried placards, seen at Nel's first appearance in court, bearing the slogan "Kill the Boer. Kill the farmer".
Others made no secret of wanting the death penalty for Nel.
An armoured police vehicle was brought to the court to extricate Nel.
There were skirmishes between the police and the protesters when the accused was led to the police vehicle.
Protesters shouted "Murderer! Murderer!" at Nel, and flung bottles and stones at the vehicle as it drove away.
Police said no one was injured in the fracas.
Civil rights grouping Afriforum was represented in court and the organisation's chairman, Kallie Kriel, told The Times he blamed the crowd's behaviour on "reckless politicians".
"If politicians hadn't said what they did and incited people, this would not have been necessary," said Kriel. "That's why we appealed to everyone to allow the proceedings to continue uninterrupted."