Tears flowed at the Western Cape High Court yesterday as a mom who witnessed the murder of Gift of the Givers volunteer Ameerodien Noordien took the witness stand.
The 32-year-old, who cannot be named, sobbed in court as she gave a chilling account of her warning to the 19-year-old moments before he was mercilessly gunned down.
Ameerodien died in Surwood Walk on 5 October 2018 after coming under fire while walking to a winkel.
His death sparked widespread cries for police intervention and, within days, Police Minister Bheki Cele deployed his new Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) in the area and Adrian Carelse and Raydin Lekuta were busted.
The duo are charged with an array of charges including murder, attempted murder and firearm related charges.
In her testimony, the woman told the court that the pair were known to her as she watched them grow up.
She said on that fateful, night she stood at her gate and saw Ameerodien and his friends arrive home after working outside of Cape Town with Gift of the Givers.
“In that same week, Ameerodien and his colleagues were working away and they came home on the Friday.
“I called him and asked him where they went and what they did and that is when I saw Raydin and I knew there was trouble and I told Ameerodien to run,” she said.
The woman says while Ameerodien was not a skollie, he lived in an area overrun by the Ghetto Kidz gang and the sighting of Adrian and Raydin signalled trouble.
“They (the suspects) are not allowed to walk here so if they are here, I knew they were either here to shoot or they’d be shot,” she said.
She said Ameerodien asked why he should run before continuing to walk to a shop.
The teary-eyed witness said Raydin led the trio and was followed by Adrian and an unknown man.
“Until today I cannot tell you who the third person was but he didn’t have a gun.
“I saw Raydin fire three shots and then Adrian started shooting.”
The scared woman ran into her house and waited for the gunshots to stop and said as she came out, she saw a group gather around Ameerodien’s lifeless body.
The emotional witness broke down again when she was made to look at the crime scene pictures and answer questions put to her.
She explained that three days after the shooting, she approached Ameerodien’s manager at Gift of the Givers and told him she witnessed the shooting.
“Ali from Gift of the Givers came to me and asked if I wanted to give a statement and he took me to Philippi Police Station where I gave my statement to Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.”
Ameerodien’s father Mogamat Alwie could be seen crying in the public gallery throughout the testimony.
The case continues.