Two former friends accused of killing an elderly Ottery couple in an apparent house robbery have turned on each other at the Western Cape High Court.
Gcinlelitha Ngcobelothe and his co-accused Lwazi Ntsibantsiba are charged with the murder of Rugaya and Riedewaan Addinall on 5 January 2019.
The duo were arrested after the elderly couple, both aged 82, were found strangled to death in their home while some of their possessions were packed in their Mercedes Benz.
Shortly after the murders, cops arrested the duo from Delft and they were charged with murder and aggravated robbery.
According to the indictment, Ngcobelothe had allegedly taken his friend to the Addinall house and had planned to rob them.
But Ntsibantsiba took the stand in his defence and pointed the finger at the former gardener as being behind the murders.
He said on the day of the incident, he never entered the house or attacked the couple and was instructed by Ngcobelothe to wait on a veldjie.
Questioned by advocate Bashier Sibda, Ntsibantsiba denied that Ngcobelothe had offered him work after his uncle lost his job saying they got help from a taxi driver with food.
He denied being unemployed at the time and said he only took up the painting jobs because his current job was paying little.
“His version is lies. My uncle lost his job mid-year and the neighbour, who is a taxi driver named Zola Gesi, helped us by buying food that I cooked myself. He was not doing my uncle a favour with that work.
“I was employed but earning very little money. He only took me on to get rid of all the work he had,” said Ntsibantsiba.