WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-02-13 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
A mother shed tears as she told the Cape High Court how her son died when robbers attacked them at their Rylands Estate home in June 2005.
Mariam Arab, is the owner of the popular Mariam’s Kitchen in the city centre.
Arab and her other two sons were injured while her son Abdul Jabar, known as Saleem, was killed in the attack.
Arab started testifying against Showkit Hassam on Monday and was still in the witness stand on Tuesday.
Hassam is accused of a string of robberies and attacks on businesses in the Western Cape.
He is also charged with Abdul Jabar’s murder.
Arab became emotional as she started talking about her sons but assured Justice Wilfred Thring that she could continue.
She said Abdul Jabar managed the take-away business.
The incident took place six months after they had moved into Rylands Estate from Salt River.
She said they did not operate their business from the house and that large amounts of cash were not kept on the premises.
The state alleges Hassam believed that the family had R2,5-million at home and this prompted him to orchestrate the robbery at the house.
Testifying about the morning of the robbery, Arab said she was asleep and awoke to the sound of voices.
“I opened the door and I just stepped out of my room. As I stepped out of the room there was a man standing there,” she said.
She said he aimed his firearm at her stomach and she begged him not to shoot her.
Arab battled to fight back tears as she told the court about when she first realised that her sons had been shot.
She saw Abdul Jabar descending the stairs of their double-storey home.
The next thing she remembered was that he fought with one of the attackers.
There were many aspects of the attack she could not remember and Arab explained that she was shocked by what happened.
“I sit every day and think about what happened. I still can’t find the answers,” she added.
She said that she remembers a bullet ricocheting off the ground and hitting her ankle.
Then she looked towards the front door of the house where Abdul Jabar collapsed.
She saw that one of the attackers had also been injured.
She shouted at him: “Why have you shot my children?”
But he said that he didn’t know why.
Then someone called her towards her son.
“He was already dying,” she said.
Arab testified that the family’s life has changed since then and that she was not concerned about their business.
“We all loved Saleem a lot,” she said, adding that the family has been for counselling.