A gang violence victim stunned the Western Cape High Court on Monday when he pleaded with the judge to convict the alleged killers of Gift of the Givers volunteer, Ameerodien Noordien.
After a gruelling week on the stand, Riedewaan Samuels, 20, bravely pointed out his attacker and told the court that Hanover Park would be a safer place if the skollies were behind bars.
Ameerodien, 19, was gunned down in October 2018 during a bloody gang war between the Americans and Ghetto Kidz gangs.
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 arrested.
The duo face an array of charges including murder, attempted murder and firearm-related charges.
After a three-year wait, the trial finally got under way last week after the court conducted an inspection of the crime scenes across Hanover Park.
Riedewaan took the stand and told the court how he too came under fire by Carelse a month before Ameerodien was killed.
He explained that while playing soccer with his friends, he saw Carelse riding on his bicycle nearby before meeting up with his skollie friends at Derwent Court.
Riedewaan said Carelse shot him twice in the back and as he turned, Carelse aimed for his head and he shielded his face with his arm and was shot two more times.
The student, who was 17 at the time, was hospitalised at Groote Schuur Hospital for three months after the bullets ruptured his kidney and liver.
Riedewaan was cross-examined extensively by Carelse’s lawyer who told the court his client denied being on the veldjie on the day of the shooting.
Questioned about the layout of the crime scene, the IT student responded with precision and hit back at the lawyer several times.
“I put it to you that it was impossible for you to have seen them through the vibracrete,” the lawyer said.
To which Riedewaan replied: “That was three years ago, the wall had slabs you could see through. It has changed now because the people put that vibracrete up because of all the shootings.”
He also told the court that he knew Carelse well as the two attended Summit Primary School and were classmates.
Asked by the judge whether he wanted to tell them anything else, Riedewaan looked Caresle in the face and said: “All I want is that guys like that be taken off the streets, to keep our community safe.
“At the end of the day, we all have to face these hardships of violence so all I ask the court is that those two are taken off the streets and our streets made safer.”
The case continues.