'I am not the son of God,' says Naidoo

Murder accused Matthew Naidoo this week said in the Durban High Court that he was not "the son of God".

Naidoo, 25, his former girlfriend Nicolette Lotter, 30, and her brother Hardus, 24, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of the siblings' parents, Johan and Riekie, who were killed in their Westville home in July 2008.

The Phoenix man is accused of being the mastermind behind the murders and took the stand on Thursday and Friday.

In his evidence, Naidoo denied he was the "son of God" and said he had been unaware of the plan to murder Johan and Riekie. He added that "God in his mercy and love would not ask us to kill" and said he considered the siblings' parents good friends.

Naidoo's testimony this week contradicts a statement he made to police at the time of his arrest. The statement said he made Nicolette and Hardus believe he was the son of God and that their parents were evil and God wanted them dead.

A confident Naidoo, who was wearing a collar and tie, told the court that the siblings wanted to blame him for the murders and did not want to take responsibility for the crime.

However, Judge Shyam Gyanda challenged the statement, saying the siblings had admitted to the murder and were sharing the responsibility.

Naidoo also denied writing a number of letters which have been submitted as evidence, except for a love letter written to Nicolette in 2007.

In the letter, he confided he was worried about his financial status, adding that he felt "low" because she paid for everything.

Under questioning from Advocate Roland Parsotham, representing Hardus, Naidoo denied writing four other letters addressed to God.

In these letters, written in 2008 allegedly by Naidoo, the author criticised the Lotter parents for being "hateful" and driven by money.

In another letter, the author asked God to: "Please help us to rob the Lotters... we all are not in need yet but if we don't get this rite (sic) before tomorrow we will be in need."

The letters also spoke about robbing the Lotters of R6000 and being afraid of going to jail.

Gyanda questioned Naidoo's version: "The letters are in your writing and have the same bad spelling in them. There are handwriting experts who can assess whether the writing belongs to you," he told Naidoo.

The case continues this week.