Cape Town - The three men accused of killing lawyer Pete Mihalik appeared in the Western Cape High Court where Nkosinathi Khumalo was on the stand and testified in his own defence.
Khumalo, Sizwe Biyela and Vuyile Maliti are charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Khumalo, who is from KwaZulu-Natal, was at a loss for words once again following four days of cross-examination by State advocate Greg Wolmarans.
He was questioned about what his cellphone records showed – with reference to his location on the day of the crime – according to expert evidence.
Khumalo was further questioned about the constant communication he allegedly kept with his co-accused in the 30 minutes before and after Mihalik was killed.
Cross-referencing Khumalo’s approximate location with the time he received and made calls with his cellphone, Wolmarans tried to ascertain from Khumalo why he sent a “please call me” message to Biyela and why Biyela would have called him when they had already concluded their “business meeting” in Green Point on the day.
He said, “as things stand, I don’t know how I must explain myself but I did that to report the car”.
Khumalo said he did not dispute the cellphone evidence or the video footage showing someone who looked identical to Biyela firing two shots at Mihalik’s car window on October 30, 2018.
Wolmarans put it to Khumalo that he and Biyela, according to the State’s evidence, were in the same vicinity, minutes after Mihalik was allegedly murdered.
“Accused number one phoned me, by the time I was reporting to him about the missing car.
“With regards to these towers, I don’t know how they operate and I also don’t know where they are being stored and situated,” Khumalo said.
When he was asked about Biyela’s location at the time of the shooting, Khumalo said, “I was the driver of the Renault Clio on that day and I don’t have any knowledge regarding the additional information, that is new to me, today”.
The State has yet to revisit Khumalo’s evidence on how he was beaten by “unknown police officers”, after he was taken into custody and it is unclear whether Maliti will testify.
The trial continues.