After waiting two years for their brother Shakoor Roberts to appear in court for their mom’s murder, they say cops have messed up the case by not filling out the subpoena correctly.
Gafsa’s badly decomposed body was discovered by a neighbour inside a wheelie bin outside her home in Winterhoek Street, Tafelsig, in March 2015, after she went missing.
Family members could only identify the well-known resident by her toes and her hair.
It’s believed Gafsa, 60, was beaten to death but the cause of death was never established.
Shakoor, 24, who lived alone with his sickly mother who suffered from liver disease, pancreatic cancer and diabetes, was arrested and charged the same day.
Shakoor Robert
However, the charges were provisionally withdrawn two days later due to a lack of evidence.
Police have since done their homework because two weeks ago, Shakoor was subpoenaed to appear in court on the murder charges.
But his sister Rushana Adams, 36, says he didn’t pitch in court on Tuesday.
The family was left shocked and angered when the magistrate revealed that the subpoena was incomplete - it was missing the date it had been served on Shakoor.
Rushana Adams
On Thursday, Captain Ian Williams, the Mitchells Plain Police Station spokesperson, confirmed the delay was due to the subpoena but would not comment any further.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the matter was postponed to 15 September.
A tearful Rushana says: “All we want now is closure and justice, since my mother died we siblings have also been divided. What hurts more is that this was her own flesh and blood, and not a stranger.”
Gafsa Roberts
Rushana says earlier this week she also had to stop furious community members from destroying her mother’s run-down house where Shakoor still lives.
Rushana says they believe Shakoor is a Satanist and that her mother feared him.
“She always said to us that if he kills her and if we find her body, we will be lucky,” she says.
Rushana adds that her brother is a diagnosed schizophrenic.