Security guard says no sign of trespass at estate
SECURITY guard Lorenzo Afrika, the second witness to testify yesterday in the trial of Henri van Breda, was at pains to explain that the perimeter fence at the De Zalze estate in Stellenbosch could not be breached without detection.
Van Breda, 20, is on trial for allegedly murdering his father Martin, 54, his mother Teresa, 55, and his brother Rudi, 22.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of his sister Marli who was 16 at the time of the incident in January 2015.
Last week, in a statement read out by his lawyer Pieter Botha, Van Breda claimed that his family had been attacked by a laughing, axe-wielding intruder whom he had managed to fight off.
Testifying, Afrika said his job was to ensure that the fence surrounding the luxury estate was regularly tested and he also tested alarms.
“I used an electric tester on the fence. I would test the fence at 6pm and again in the mornings.”
Afrika explained to the court that he would drive around the estate in a marked vehicle, and would be on patrols with his shift leader, who patrolled in another vehicle.
“My vehicle was monitored through (electronic) tracking and I had to ‘clock-in’ at specified points (at the estate).”
Afrika was working on the night of January 26, 2015, and said he had tested the fence that night and had not found any fault with it.
“I didn’t notice anything that bothered me and there were no suspicious persons or false alarms,” said Afrika.
If something came in contact with the fence, it would activate the alarm repeatedly, even “something as small as frog”, according to the security officer.
“There was no one walking around the estate that night,” he said.
During cross-examination, advocate Matthys Combrink asked Afrika whether he was aware of the security situation at the estate before he started working there in October 2014.
Afrika acknowledged that he could not testify about the incidents before he had started working there.
Earlier in the day, Botha had told Stellenbosch police officer Adrian Kleynhans that there had been 24 burglaries reported at the estate since 2002.
Combrink wanted to know how the estate’s security fence worked, to which Afrika gave a detailed explanation, saying that dry sand would not have triggered the alarm.
Afrika also explained that besides the electronic barriers, there was also an “anti-dig” concrete block underneath the fence to prevent criminals from burrowing underneath to gain entry.
The case continues today.