Miguel Louw's mom recounts her last moments with him

RAYLENE Louw, right, the mother of Miguel Louw leaving the Durban High Court yesterday with her mother and a friend. Motshwari Mofokeng African News Agency (ANA)

RAYLENE Louw, right, the mother of Miguel Louw leaving the Durban High Court yesterday with her mother and a friend. Motshwari Mofokeng African News Agency (ANA)

Published Oct 29, 2019

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Durban - Raylene Louw, the mother of kidnapped and murdered 9-year-old Miguel Louw, says she and the man accused of the crime were friends, and she was not in a relationship with him.

Louw took the witness stand on Monday in the trial of Mohamed Vahed Ebrahim, and spoke of the morning she last saw her son alive.

On the morning of July 17 last year she woke up and got Miguel ready for school.

“I got him ready for school, made him lunch and kissed him goodbye as usual, and told him that I loved him,” she said while weeping in the witness box.

Ebrahim, a close acquaintance and co-worker of Louw’s, is accused of kidnapping and murdering the Rippon Primary School pupil.

Miguel’s decomposed body was found in bushes in Phoenix, days after he went missing.

When Miguel went missing, there were allegations that Louw, who was separated from Miguel’s father Kirk Louw, was in a relationship with Ebrahim, but yesterday she said they were just friends.

Kirk died in July of a heart attack.

Louw said she lived with her mother and two children, Miguel and his sister, at their home in Sydenham.

She said when Ebrahim visited her at her home for the first time, she introduced him to her mother and children as her co-worker and friend.

She said she worked with Ebrahim at Emam Bux Food Emporium on Alpine Road, and they became friends.

Ebrahim visited often and would help her mother with chores around the house, but she did not know what arrangement he had with her mother.

Louw said Ebrahim had a close relationship with her children and often bought them sweets and chocolates.

CCTV video footage presented by the State at the start of the trial showing Ebrahim with Miguel at the KFC in Sydenham on the day he went missing is not disputed by the defence.

Senior State advocate Kelvin Singh intends to prove that Ebrahim boarded a taxi with Miguel after buying him food at the KFC, killed him and dumped his body near his home in Phoenix.

Louw told the court yesterday that she was only aware of two occasions when Ebrahim took her children to the KFC.

“The KFC is two minutes’ walk away from home. He had been to the KFC twice with the kids, but he had asked me for permission,” she said.

Ismail Rhyman had testified earlier, saying he had seen Ebrahim and Miguel crossing the road and walking towards the minibus taxis.

After seeing the CCTV footage he remembered seeing Ebrahim crossing the road at the same time as he did that afternoon.

He said he knew Ebrahim from the area and had seen him at the KFC.

He said he worked at the YMK Spares shop opposite the KFC and knew Miguel, as he would see him walking home after school. He remembered seeing him with Ebrahim, whom he pointed out to the court.

Under cross-examination he admitted he could not remember what clothes the man with Miguel was wearing at the time but he could remember that the boy wore a blue school tracksuit.

Ebrahim’s lawyer, Jay Naidoo, questioned why Rhyman had paid special attention to the man and boy crossing the busy road. Rhyman said he noticed them because Miguel wore his school uniform and because he would see the two in the area.

The trial continues.

Daily News

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