A security officer working at the larney De Zalze Estate on the night of the bloody axe murders got a grilling in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
Murder suspect Henri van Breda’s defence lawyer Matthys Combrink was cross-examining Lorenzo Afrika, who insisted the alarm never went off the night the accused’s dad Martin, 54, mom Teresa, 55, and brother Rudi, 22, were hacked to death.
However, Combrink said that according to reports by Thorburn security company, which Afrika used to work for, the alarm went off three times on that night - once after 7pm, again after 1am and 3am.
The alarms were activated on the perimeter fence, the court heard.
Afrika then said he was not told about them and insisted that if an alarm was set off, he would have been dispatched to the area.
Most of the questioning dealt with tedious aspects of the security guard’s routines and patrol routes.
Afrika said the alarm system would be tripped by a frog or branch at times, but that would be detected.
He would also inspect all the camera points and go to the control room and view footage there.
Afrika testified he would do five rounds of “bloodhound” patrols of the estate during his shift, consisting of three car patrols and two inspections.
Van Breda claims his family was attacked by a “laughing” black man, wearing a balaclava at their larney home in January 2015.
On Tuesday, defence lawyer Pieter Botha said there have been 24 burglaries at De Zalze Estate since 2002.
Botha said skelms known as the “Balaclava Gang” had been targeting Stellenbosch homes around the same time of the triple murder.
The trial continues.