Cape Town man killed after online date

Cape Town - A gay man from Sea Point was reportedly killed over the weekend after he went on a date with someone he had met over the internet.

The body of Graham Flax, 65, was found under a duvet in the corridor outside his flat in the Costa Bravo apartment building, reported Die Burger.

His friend, Atol McLaggan, said Flax had gone to meet someone, but wasn't sure if it was a friend or a date. He added that Flax often went on internet dates.

A police spokesperson said Flax had suffered a hard knock to the head.

Screams

“Residents of the building heard how he screamed: ‘Let me go! Let me go!" at about 02:40 on Saturday morning," said Captain Frederick van Wyk.

A laptop and cellphone had been stolen from the flat, which was not locked.

Police said the murder could not be linked to the murders of eight other gay men in Gauteng, but said there were similarities in the cases.

A man had apparently handed himself over in connection with Flax’s murder and was still to appear in court.

McLaggan said Flax was a soft target. "He had poor vision and he was one of those men who grew up in a community where homosexuality was suppressed. I think it often appears as though older men have money."

Flax was retired and worked as a volunteer at the Jacob Gitlin library. He had moved down to Cape Town from Johannesburg over year ago.

“I can understand that the kind of dates that Graham went on made him vulnerable to robbery. But to be attacked with so much violence, that I don’t understand,” said McLaggan.