Prayers for axe suspect Henri van Breda

A bus driver from Strand takes a train every day to pray for axe-murder accused Henri van Breda whenever he appears in the Cape Town High Court.

Yesterday, Ralph Montjies stopped Van Breda twice on the steps of the court.

"I told him not to be worried about the fact that the public has already found him guilty. I told him I will start a prayer group for him," said the 55-year-old.

• De Zalze estate – scene of the Van Breda murders - not as safe as expectedA luxury estate with impenetrable boundaries and top notch security. This is the picture painted of De Zalze estate where the gruesome murder of three members of the Van Breda family took place.

"He was very calm. He told me: 'Ja, my friend, thank you very much. I appreciate it'."

Montjies said he has given Van Breda "the benefit of the doubt".

"The judges make their own decisions and I come to my own conclusion. It is very interesting. I don't mind the travelling at all."

• Van Breda shows little emotion as court is shown unpublishable picsLooking even more exhausted than last week‚ Henri van Breda was dressed in a charcoal suit with a tiny silver aeroplane attached to his lapel on Tuesday morning. 

In court yesterday the degree of security provided by the perimeter fence at the De Zalze luxury estate in Stellenbosch - where the Van Breda family lived and where three of them were murdered in 2015 - came under the spotlight.

According to security guard Lorenzo Afrika, who was on duty overnight when the crimes took place, the perimeter fence is so sensitive that "even a frog can activate the alarm" and has done so in the past.

Afrika said he had checked the perimeter five times that night but found no breach that would give an intruder access to the estate.

"Our fence is very accurate so if anything at all touches it the system shows red, even if it is only a frog . the system will only return to normal once I have removed the object," said Afrika.

He said: "There was nobody walking through the estate on that specific evening."

Van Breda's lawyers have contended that the estate could have been entered by crossing a river but Afrika said any such intruder would have been detected by CCTV cameras monitoring the river.

The positions of the cameras will now come under scrutiny.

The trial resumes tomorrow.