Boyfriend of Phoenix triple-murder victim tells of frantic messages that went unanswered

While the lifeless body of young Rackelle Govindsamy, 16, lay in a pool of blood in her parent's bedroom, her boyfriend Kameel Naidoo was frantically trying to get hold of her to make sure she was safe.

Naidoo was testifying during the second day of the trial of Collin Pillay who is accused of murdering Rackelle, her sister Denisha and their mother, Jane Govindsamy.

Pillay was arrested after the bodies of the women were discovered at their Phoenix, Durban, home in September 2018. He has pleaded not guilty.

Naidoo told the court that on the day the killings, he had walked Rackelle home from school as he did three times a week.

"I walked her home from school that day and we were just talking. I walked her close to the entrance of her complex, we stopped and spoke a bit," said Naidoo.

CCTV footage from a boutique close to the Govindsamy home showed the two teens walking towards Rackelle's house just minutes after a man, who both the state and defence have agreed was Pillay, walked in the direction of the complex.

"When she got home she would send me a WhatsApp message to confirm that she was safe inside," said Naidoo.

"I arrived home and there was no message from her, so I decided to message her and ask her if she was safe," he added.

Naidoo testified that after not hearing from Rackelle he had texted, SMSed and called her several times. He had the WhatsApp messages to Rackelle saved on his phone and was able to tell the court at what time he had sent them. His final message to her was around 11pm that night.

Pillay’s ex-girlfriend and mother of their nine-year-old child, Pushpa Moodley, told the court she and Pillay lived together, although they were no longer in a relationship, and that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the day the murders were committed.

"He got ready as normal, he came back around 8am. When I asked him where the tow truck was he said it was being spray-painted and he went back to bed. He woke up and was in the house till about 2pm and then he left,” said Moodley.

"He did not say where he was going."

Earlier in the day, the state played CCTV footage of Pillay wiping and throwing away a knife in the vicinity of the Govindsamy home. Pillay's attorney, Amanda Hulley, told the court that her client intended to argue that he had found the knife on the road and was simply throwing it away.

The matter will continue on Wednesday when Hulley will continue her cross-examination of Moodley.