Murdered Mitchells Plain mom Gafsa Roberts had an interdict and assault case against her son Shakoor Roberts.
This was revealed by Madeeghah Jacobs, the youngest daughter of Gafsa, 61, who took the witness stand at the Mitchells Plain Regional Court on Thursday.
Prosecutors are set to prove that Shakoor, 27, strangled his mother to death on 27 February 2015, and that he washed her body and hid it in their dirt bin.
On 2 March 2015, a neighbour found Gafsa’s body in the bin outside their home in Winterhoek Street, Tafelsig.
Madeeghah says her mom and brother had a “rocky relationship”.
“They were one day off and one day on,” she explained.
MURDER TRIAL: Accused Shakoor Roberts, 27
She said she knew about the interdict against Shakoor, but not when it was obtained.
Details of the interdict were not revealed in court.
During cross-examination, Roberts’ lawyer, L Boer, asked Madeeghah whether her brother had any cases of assault against him.
Madeeghah said her mother opened a case “more than a year before she died”.
“That was the time Shakoor was in jail for the weekend and I was with my mother when we went to withdraw the case against him,” she explained.
She also told the court that they didn’t find anything when they were searching the house and backyard for Gafsa.
She repeatedly said the bin was empty and had no pillow or shoes inside it.
This was after another witness, Ismail Mukkadam, testifed that a pillow was inside the bin, which had a foul smell, on the Sunday evening before the body was found.
The case continues.
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