Man accused of murdering Belhar couple on their porch in 2015 appears in court

The man accused of killing a couple in Belhar appeared in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Heinrich Afrika has been charged with the double murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and malicious injury to property.

Afrika allegedly shot and killed Robert de Wet and Shaurina de Wet, a married couple at their home in Belhar on August 13, 2015. The State said that on that fateful evening, the couple were seated on the porch of their property in Van Schoor Street along with Adrian Blakenberg and Noordien de Wet.

Inside the house was Lorenzo Pieterson, who could see the stoep from where he was seated.

At about 7pm, Afrika approached the couple on the porch without saying anything. At the time, Noordien had left and there were only three people on the porch.

Afrika allegedly took out the handgun. First Robert was shot and immediately afterwards Shaurina. The gun was turned on Blakenberg, but he managed to run into the house, exit through the back and escape over the wall in the backyard.

Adiel de Wet and Faizel Hassen, who are family members of the couple, lived opposite the house. When they heard the gunshots, the two rushed to the scene, where they found the couple. They noticed that Robert had died and Shaurina was badly injured.

In a critical condition, Shaurina apparently told them that the accused was the person responsible for the attack. She was transported to the hospital, where she later died.

The post-mortem examination confirmed that Robert died of multiple gunshot wounds; Shaurina died of gunshot wounds to the back and legs.

Judgment in the matter has been scheduled to take place next Tuesday. The State was represented by Advocate Christhenus van der Vijver, while Afrika was represented by Advocate Nawaal Abdurahman.

-Cape Argus

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