Leila Samodien
Justice Writer
BRONX owner Bruno Bronn seemed “nervous” and “traumatised” when, complaining of harassment, he visited a friend the day before he was murdered.
His friend, Dawid Human, was testifying in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
Three men – Frederick Willem John Coetzer, Fareez Allie and Achmat Toffa – are on trial for allegedly robbing and murdering Bronn, who owned popular gay nightclubs Bronx and Navigaytion.
Human had worked at Bronx as a DJ, as well as doing some maintenance work there, and had known Bronn for about four years.
He said that on February 5, 2012, the day before Bronn was killed, Bronn had come to visit him at his flat, which was “very unusual”.
“He wasn’t his normal self,” Human told the court. “He wasn’t relaxed, he was very nervous and he looked very traumatised.”
When State advocate Carine Teunissen questioned Human about the reason for Bronn’s visit, he said Bronn had “wanted to get away from the house”.
He further testified that he knew Coetzer as a bouncer at Bronx, that Coetzer had been asked to leave a month or two before the club closed and that it was “kind of general knowledge” that Bronn and Coetzer had been in a relationship.
Under cross-examination by Coetzer’s defence counsel , Patrick Scott, Human elaborated on the relationship, saying the two had had a “sexual relationship”.
Scott asked whether he’d ever seen indications of such a relationship, such as Coetzer and Bronn kissing, to which he replied that he hadn’t.
Scott then quizzed Human over drug-selling at Bronx, as well as alleged drug use on Bronn’s part, asking about the role in the club of someone named “Jasmine”. Human said the person was a friend of theirs and that she “sold drugs there”, namely the drug khat.
Testifying under cross-examination on the alleged harassment, Human said while Bronn had wanted to end the relationship, Coetzer had not wanted to “take no for an answer” and had demanded money.
According to Human, Bronn had mentioned incidents in which Coetzer would come to his Green Point house in the early hours of the morning and ring the bell continuously.
Another friend of Bronn’s, Bash Rihawi, who at the time worked as a bartender and assistant manager at Bronx, also took the witness stand for the State, telling of an incident a couple of days before Bronn’s murder in which Coetzer had turned up at Bronn’s home unexpectedly and he’d seen the two arguing about money.
He also testified about Coetzer’s alleged harassment of Bronn, as well as Bronn’s desire to end the relationship.
Bronn, said Rihawi, had been “very traumatised and scared to be alone”.
The trial continues on Monday.