Pretoria - Denzyl Jafta, the father of the late 20-year-old Dean Jafta, said that while he knew his son had been killed, it was extremely difficult for him to hear in court what exactly had happened to him.
Jafta has had to hear first-hand that his son was shot eight times in the back of his head, execution-style.
“I heard rumours and what the police claimed had happened, but sitting here and hearing the evidence is devastating. I only heard this week for the first time that my child was lying face down while he was repeatedly shot in the back of his head.
"This is not easy for a parent to hear,” he told the Pretoria News.
Jafta said he doubted that the truth would ever come out in court as to why his child was killed.
“But I will continue looking for answers. Dean was a good young man and he did not deserve to die like this. If he was involved in bad things, I might have let things go. But my child was a good person.”
He said that if he had not pursued the case of his son’s disappearance on May 25, 2017, he would still not have been any wiser.
“I would have thought that my child simply ran away from home.”
It is due to the father's quest for answers that it was discovered that Dean was killed soon after his disappearance. His body was found in Midrand, but the police had no idea who he was. He was buried as an unknown person.
The family only discovered this more than a year later, when another police team took over the investigation.
Dean’s body was exhumed and he was given a proper burial by his family, but there were still many unanswered questions, his heartbroken father said.
Dean’s alleged killer, Mark Billy Booysen, 29, of Eersterust, denied that he had anything to do with the murder. The court, meanwhile, also heard evidence relating to a second murder in which Booysen was allegedly involved.
Eersterust resident Ulrich Heugh was shot dead in his bed a few months after the Jafta killing. It is claimed that the gun had been used in both crimes.
Heugh’s former wife, Angelique Badawy, her new husband, Mastafa Badawy, 32, and Roderiquez Smiles, 34, all of Eersterust, are facing a murder charge in this regard, with Booysen.
Heugh’s girlfriend, Ashley Jeffries, described to the court on Thursday how they were asleep on the night of September 29, 2017, when there was an insistent knock on the door.
She said Heugh had eventually opened the door to see who it was, although she had warned him not to.
“As he opened the door, the first bullet hit him. He fell halfway out of the door and a man with a gun in his hand immediately came in. He stood with his foot on his head and fired further shots.”
Jeffries said the second man outside, whom she identified as Smiles, had told the gunman in crude language that they should leave, as Heugh was dead.
According to her, Smiles was Heugh’s friend. She didn't know the shooter.
The State claims it was Booysen.
Proceeding.