Murder accused David van Boven has outed his co-accused Tasliem “Boontjie” Ambrose as a drug merchant for one of the most notorious gangs on the Cape Flats.
In animated testimony at the Western Cape High Court on Monday, the man accused of taking Boontjie to the flat of UWC student Jesse Hess and her oupa, Chris Lategan, 85, on the day they were murdered has denied being friends with him.
Taking the stand in his own defence, Van Boven was caught up in his own web of lies as state prosecutor Emily van Wyk cross-questioned him.
This comes days after Boontjie’s confession was read out in court where he claimed to have witnessed Van Boven strangling Jesse and attacking Lategan.
In his statement taken five days after Van Boven’s statement, Boontjie outlined everything they did from 29 to 31 August 2019, saying Van Boven drove him to Parow and they smoked tik in the car.
He told the court that while he lived in Hanover Park he never associated with Boontjie as he lived in a gang hotspot.
“I don’t associate with him. I only know him as Boontjie and I don’t go in the circle where he lives because they live in a hotspot and there are shootings there. He smokkels drugs for the Ghettos. We are not friends,” he said.
Using his own confession, Van Wyk highlighted that among the state witnesses were Van Boven’s own friends who claimed he had pawned Jesse’s ring but he said they were lying.
He also told the court that when questioned by his ex-girlfriend, Laetitia Fortuin, about the murders, he boldly told her that he did not kill anyone, was not having sleepless nights and no ghosts were “drukking” him.