‘Man overheard three plotting’
Witness points out two accused of killing well-known crime fighter Naeem Desai
AWITNESS who overheard three people plotting to rob a bread delivery van driven by a well-known Port Elizabeth crime fighter testified in court yesterday that he knew who the men were when he saw them standing on the pavement in front of his house.
Ayanda Frolick, 26, of Helenvale, said he heard accused Deswin “Boetie Baas” Kleinbooi utter to his co-accused “let’s go rob the truck” minutes before businessman Naeem Desai was shot dead.
Desai, 47, was shot in the head and robbed of his cellphone, its charger and an undisclosed amount of money while he sat in the driver’s seat of the Jadeed’s Bread delivery van outside a Helenvale spaza shop in May 2016.
Kleinbooi, 22, and Eston “Gaans” Afrikaaner, 19, are facing four charges including murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Frolick testified in the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday that on the morning of May 12 2016, he had gone to the outside toilet of his house and overheard Kleinbooi, Afrikaaner and a third person identified only as “Klaas” chatting a few metres away.
“As the truck drove past I heard Boetie Baas say, ‘there’s the truck, let’s go rob the truck’,” Frolick said.
According to Frolick, of Pritchard Street, Helenvale, as soon as the truck drove past them, the three walked up Ibex Street.
Frolick told the court he knew Desai by sight as the man who delivered bread in the area.
Frolick pointed out Kleinbooi and Afrikaaner when asked by prosecutor Garth Baartman if they were in court.
He said he had known them for some time prior to the incident.
Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Questioned about the light at the time, Frolick said it was bright and that he could easily identify who was standing on the pavement not far from his home.
“I can remember what they were wearing that morning. I gave a statement to the police with a description,” Frolick said.
After witnessing the discussion between the three men, Frolick went back to bed and woke up later that morning to a commotion in the street.
“The road was full of people. I enquired what was happening and was told that [Desai] was dead,” he said.
Frolick said he went to a neighbour later that afternoon and told her what he had heard.
According to Frolick, he saw the accused, wearing the same clothes as that morning, standing at a nearby petrol station across from his home.
The following day he relayed the information to police.
The case continues today.