A black friend of Cape Town student Djavane Arrigone, who faces criminal charges of crimen injuria for allegedly urinating on a taxi driver, has come out in his defence.

Arrigone's case is one of several racism-related criminal cases on various court rolls in Cape Town this year.

Anele Mhlahlo made it clear that he stood by his friend.

He said he was trying to escape a life of poverty in the townships, and Arrigone's family took him in.

Mhlahlo is a violinist from Imizamo Yethu, a township in Hout Bay.

Commenting outside the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, where the case is being heard, Mhlahlo said his friend was not a racist.

"We have been friends for many years. He shared his house with me for three of those."

Arrigone, 19, allegedly stood on a balcony at Tiger Tiger nightclub in Claremont and urinated on taxi driver Michelle Nomgcana in January.

He allegedly said he did not see anything wrong with urinating on a black person.

Mhlahlo finds this hard to believe.

"How can one be a racist when one has lived with a black man in one's house for three years?

"He is my friend and tried to help me pull my life together," said Mhlahlo.

"After college, I was thinking 'Nah ndigrand nge kasi [I am done with township life]' and he was the only guy to say: 'Anele, you are going to stay here. I will not let you leave until your life is on track,'" Mhlahlo said.

"This guy grew up in a home where race was never an issue," he added.

Nomzi Njengele, one of the security guards who saw the alleged incident, told the court that Arrigone said he did not care if he urinated on a black man because his family was rich.

The trial continues tomorrow.

On Friday, the Cape Town Magistrate's Court dealt with the case of a domestic worker who was racially abused by her employer's boyfriend.

Andre van Deventer was convicted last month of spitting in Gloria Kente's face and hurling racial slurs.

He had said: "You are a k****r and pathetic and you stole our land" and "I wish that cripple Mandela would die".

He also grabbed Kente by her pyjamas during the incident last year.

Van Deventer appeared in court for mitigation and aggravation of sentence arguments.

Prosecutor Andy Hess said the state would suggest that Van Deventer be sentenced to community service and to take part in the activities of the ANC Women's League.

He will be sentenced on January 28.