The fur is set to fly in the Verulam Magistrate's Court as outspoken Islamic champion Yousuf Deedat this week launched a R200000 lawsuit against a magistrate for "killing" his eight cats. Deedat accused magistrate Visha Naidoo of causing the death of the cats by issuing an order barring him from his home in Verulam, 30km north of Durban.He has not seen the bodies of the cats, but assumed they were dead because they had disappeared from the now-empty home.Naidoo issued the order barring Deedat from the house and from Verulam in May after a complex series of court cases in which Deedat, whose family had close ties to al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, was said to have pointed a gun at a Verulam resident.For his part, Deedat claimed the trouble started early this year when a "connected individual" offered him an off-the-books cash sum for his house, which he rejected.Shortly afterwards, Deedat said, he was wrongly accused of harassing, stalking and threatening the would-be buyer's wife.Deedat is fighting the allegations against him in court, saying he did not know the woman at all.story_article_left1During one of his appearances in April he was also accused by a prosecutor of being a recruiter for the terrorist group Islamic State.He denied this allegation, and has not faced any charges in this regard.In his action against Naidoo, Deedat claimed the magistrate overstepped her powers by banning him from entering Verulam and then "unnecessarily and unreasonably" ordering postponements when he tried to have the court order relaxed.He said he had been trying since July 9 to have the conditions relaxed, but the matter had been repeatedly postponed.His next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.Deedat claimed Naidoo's order had effectively killed the pets he loved so dearly, partly because the cats would never accept food from anyone but himself."They [the cats] took care of my parents. They were the closest companions of my mother and father, even when he was ill," he said."They slept on his bed. When my father died, I began to treasure these precious gifts."I looked at them as my father and mother looked at them. I became extremely close to them."She [Naidoo] was cruel and evil to get them to die of hunger."After a court appearance on July 26 - six weeks after he had last been to his home - Deedat pleaded to be allowed to go to the family home to collect some clothing and feed the animals.His request was granted but when he got home the cats were nowhere to be seen."I spoke to neighbours and asked if they had seen my cats, they said none had been sighted. I shouted for them; they know my voice. But none of them ever came. I was extremely hurt. I didn't sleep for a few nights."He said he contacted the SPCA to check whether anyone had brought the cats in, but there was no sign of them.Naidoo said the matter was sub judice, and therefore she could not comment...