Despite security at De Zalze‚ some 'rich folk' still feel need to protect themselves‚ court hears

03 May 2017 - 16:14 By Tanya Farber And Aron Hyman
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Murder accused Henri van Breda at the Western Cape High Court. File photo
Murder accused Henri van Breda at the Western Cape High Court. File photo
Image: Esa Alexander

There is no price too high that rich folk will pay to feel safe.

This was intimated by Judge Siraj Desai‚ presiding over the triple axe murder case of Henri van Breda. The 22-year-old allegedly committed the crimes at the family's multi-million rand home on the De Zalze estate in Stellenbosch in January 2015.

Defence counsel Matthys Combrink had asked while questioning security official Afrika Lorenzo: "So despite the security measures of the estate‚ there are still people who think it is necessary to protect themselves?"

  • Who is who in the De Zalze zoo?The fauna and flora in and around De Zalze are under the spotlight in the Van Breda triple axe murder trial on Wednesday as the defence builds a case that the security systems are not as rock-solid as one might believe. 

Afrika agreed‚ and Desai said wryly: "These are rich people‚ Mr Combrink!"

Staying cool under pressure‚ Afrika answered more than 50 questions ranging from the banal to the highly technical.

"I have to test electricity on 15 zones of the 43 every day‚ and they always have to be different ones‚" he said.

He uses a metal rod to set off the fence and a Namtek tester which measures voltage.

"There were no interruptions that evening‚" he said‚ "and no alarms went off."

Combrink said he has a report from a security manager at the estate which provides details of at least two alarms going off‚ but according to Afrika‚ his senior was the one who would have been called out to check on these alarms because of the time that they went off.

Two security officers are on patrol each night: one does 'bloodhounds' which takes approximately an hour‚ while the other patrols and responds to incidents. Bloodhounds are a system whereby there is registered proof recorded on a tag that ensures a security guard has checked each part of the fence where she or he is supposed to.

Then they alternate.

Afrika said that while he was on patrol duty‚ he was not called out to any activated alarms that night.

In other words‚ Afrika was on 'bloodhound' duty at those times.

The defence claims that an alarm was activated at 7.38pm and at 1.37am hours on the night of the murders.

The report also says that a kiosk‚ which allegedly houses the energisers that power the fence‚ was opened that night.

Afrika said it would be very strange if that door was open since it is the security company only that has keys to the kiosk and that it is "always locked".

According to Combrink‚ the report also said that another security official in the control room noticed "unusual" alarms being activated at around lunchtime on January 26. An AC power outlet had allegedly been disconnected.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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