“Hy lieg” was the reaction in the public gallery on Thursday as murder accused Shakoor Roberts denied hiding his dead mother’s body in her dirt bin.
While his oldest sister, Rushana Adams, continued her testimony on the stand at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court, Roberts via his lawyer claimed he did not kill his mother and that she did not sleep with a knife under her pillow out of fear for him.
The State is set to prove that Roberts strangled his mother Gafsa, 61, to death in March 2015 at their home in Winterhoek Street in Tafelsig.
He then allegedly washed her body in an attempt to destroy evidence and hid her body in their wheelie bin.
Gafsa disappeared on Friday, 27 February, when she was supposed to go to Rushana’s house in Hanover Park to fetch her granddaughter.
Roberts’ lawyer, L Boer, said her client will testify that he had a cellphone and had contacted Rushana to tell her that their mother did not come home that night.
He said Rushana came to help Roberts search for their mother on the Saturday.
But Rushana told the court Shakoor never owned a cellphone and did not contact her.
She said the family came to search the house on Sunday but did not find anything.
Gafsa’s body was discovered by neighbours early the Monday morning after they noticed a foul smell coming from it.
Their aunt, Gadija Stevens, previously testified that Shakoor told her Gafsa had gone away for the weekend to visit friends in Delft.
REACTION: Murder accused Shakoor Roberts
When Boer said Shakoor denied their mother feared him, a frustrated Rushana told the court: “Hy lieg.”
When the Magistrate asked how Rushana knew Roberts did not have a key to the house, she said her mom feared him: “He threatened our mother and she used to sleep inside a locked room and slept with a knife under her pillow.”
Outside court, neighbour Gouwa Malgas said Gafsa confided in her about the threats: “I often had to sit and drink tea at her home at 2am because she was scared of him.”