Durban - VIDEO footage of two individuals walking fast and then boarding a minibus taxi near a fast food outlet in Sydenham on the afternoon that Miguel Louw went missing was played in court on Tuesday, as the trial of Mohamed Vahed Ebrahim for his murder began.
The State believed that the two individuals were the dead
9-year-old boy and Ebrahim, his alleged killer, after Ebrahim fetched him from school.
Other footage from earlier that day, July 17, 2018, showed Miguel with Ebrahim at the fast food outlet.
Ebrahim, a friend of the Louw family, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and theft.
He walked into the dock in the Durban High Court yesterday and greeted people in the gallery by waving at them and smiling.
The footage shows Ebrahim and Miguel entering the KFC. They wait in the queue before Ebrahim places an order at the counter.
They then sit, and later exit the shop holding hands.
Ebrahim smiled as he watched the video, and then whispered something in advocate Jay Naidoo’s ear.
However, he stopped smiling and looked shocked when the video of two individuals hopping into the taxi was shown.
Senior state advocate Kelvin Singh told the court that although the State did not have evidence of the murder weapon, it relied on evidence, including the video footage, cellphone evidence, a post-mortem report, and a list of witnesses as circumstantial evidence against Ebrahim.
Singh said he would call a sign language expert who would interpret the conversation between Ebrahim and Miguel in the KFC by reading their lips.
The State alleged that Ebrahim fetched Miguel from school and bought him a meal before they boarded a taxi.
Miguel’s body was found decomposing in the bushes in Phoenix weeks later.
Ebrahim was allegedly in a relationship with Miguel’s mother and had moved in with them, leaving his Phoenix home.
A juvenile who testified yesterday told the court that a man was waiting for Miguel at the school gate the afternoon he went missing.
The minor boy, who cannot be named, described the man as darkish, not that tall, with big eyes, and a long nose.
He said he had seen the man once at school with Miguel’s mother and thought he was Miguel’s father.
He said the man offered a boy R10 if he found and called Miguel for him.
He then walked home with his friends, leaving the man near the gate.
Later that afternoon, Miguel’s mother, father and grandmother came to the sports grounds during his soccer practice, looking for Miguel, and showed him a picture of a man on her phone. He confirmed it was the same man who had waited for Miguel at the school gate that afternoon.
He said the man and Miguel’s father, who he was introduced to at the sports grounds, were two different people.