The father of slain tot Orderick Lucas was labelled a liar at the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday as the murder trial of Melvin Volkyn continued.
Dad Doukoumancia Kounkou Dziendelet, aka Safran, returned to the witness stand for cross-examination by defence attorney, Susan Kuun.
As the court tried to establish who the last person was to care for the one-year-old boy before his disappearance, Kuun grilled Safran about the four-day period when Orderick was missing.
She questioned how, despite his earlier testimony that he believed Volkwyn had broken Orderick’s arm three months before the toddler’s death, he still allowed the child to stay at Volkwyn’s home.
“I am putting it to you that it is highly improbable that you were OK with Orderick being in the care of someone who you say had broken his arm.”
In response Safran, speaking through a French translator, said despite the children being removed from their parents’ care and sent to live with their ouma Cornelia Scheepers, Volkwyn was still allowed to be around Orderick.
“He would go there and do her (Cornelia’s) hair and it was like everyone forgot what happened and he was there. I didn’t say anything,” said the father.
Talking about the Monday after Orderick was last seen alive, Kuun questioned how Safran could believe that the tot was with Volkwyn if he admitted he’d seen him without the child.
“If you say you spoke to Melvin and he said the child was with him but you did not see Orderick, how did you not question where he was?
“If you believed he was at Melvin’s home, which is a hairdresser, did you not think it was dangerous for a child who could walk to be in a salon?
“You are being untruthful. It is more probable that you knew something had happened when the child was with Davedine, that is why you never went looking for Orderick.”
In a dramatic response, Safran lifted his right hand in the air, raised his voice and said: “I swear, I swear, I swear, Melvin told me the child is with him.”
Kuun also accused Safran of lying that Davedine cared well for their children and highlighted all the illnesses suffered by little Orderick.
“If she was a good mother, his arm wouldn’t have been broken, he wouldn’t have gone missing,” the lawyer stated.
The defeated father conceded that Davedine was at fault over this.