Mitchells Plain - A Mitchells Plain man who is accused of killing his own tikkop son has appealed to parents to help find a solution to the Western Cape drug problem.
Sedick Abrahams, 62, made his third appearance in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for the murder of his son, Clinton, 28.
The heartbroken pensioner admits he stabbed his son in the chest during a heated argument in January over a plate of food, but claims it was in self-defence.
Sedick says his family had been through hell with his son’s addiction over the past 13 years and never meant to kill the young man.
Sedick says Clinton was a friendly person who was popular among their neighbours in Tafelsig, but in his teens he started using tik.
To feed his drug habit, he stole from his own parents and also abused them, Sedick says.
READ: Dad says he killed his drug addict son in self-defence
Dressed in a formal blue pants, a pink shirt and a jacket, Sedick stood in front of Magistrate Alwira Bezuidenhout as his friends, family and neighbours, who came out to support him, filled the courtroom.
During court proceedings, it was revealed that while three witness statements had been obtained, the post-mortem report and chain statements were still outstanding and would only be ready in three weeks’ time.
Bezuidenhout then postponed the case to 27 June.
Speaking outside court, Sedick said he knows he is not the only parent who has had to deal with a child addicted to drugs.
He says while he is filled with regret, he believes something needs to be done to address the drug scourge.
“At the moment I feel better than how I was. I still have that feeling inside me and it still hurts. It is not an easy case to go through these things,” he says.
“I am still going to court and I leave it in God’s hands. He will decide what is right and what is wrong. I know I am not the only parent that has gone through this, but I think if we come together there will be a solution.”
Joanie Fredericks, of the Mitchells Plain Impact Association, says: “I have been supporting the family since the incident and you must understand there is no self-pity or blaming here.
“So many times people are forced in a situation where they do things they did not plan, like this situation. The fact is that Sedick Abrahams is taking full responsibility.”