‘I thought that it was a prank’
Operator describes Van Breda’s ‘weird’ call
WHEN Henri van Breda phoned for an ambulance he sounded a bit hesitant, according to the operator who picked up his emergency call. “I heard what sounded to me like a giggle, and my initial thought was that it was a prank call,” said Janine Philander.
Philander, who started working for social development in 2010, was working at the City of Cape Town’s Emergency Communication Centre when she received a call from accused Van Breda.
The Emergency Communication Centre took calls for the police, fire and ambulance services, said Philander. She said she received his call at 7.12am on January 27, 2015.
When questioned by State lawyer Megan Blows, Philander said the call was “one of the weirdest ever for me”.
She said that typically when people called, they were frantic, shouting, crying and confused, but Van Breda was quiet, calm and very co-operative. When asked why she thought the call was a prank, Philander said “it was the way he sounded”.
Philander added that calls were normally short as people would not hold on the line, but Van Breda’s call lasted approximately 20-30 minutes.
Philander added that while Van Breda couldn’t recall his address, he was helpful in giving an alternative street name nearby for the ambulance. The witness before Philander was Stephanie Op’t Hof, a neighbour who lived opposite the Van Breda family at the time of the murder. Op’t Hof said she heard a raised male voice coming from the direction of the Van Breda house between 10pm and 11.50pm.
Defence lawyer Matthys Combrink cross-examined her, stating that according to Van Breda the family had watched a movie that night.
Combrink questioned whether Op’t Hof had not heard the movie, but she insisted that that was not the case.
Combrink said that another neighbour had not heard raised voices, and nor had patrolling security officers.
Op’t Hof said that what she heard sounded nothing like a film.
The trial continues today with Philander still giving evidence.