Africa-Press – South-Africa. One of the three men accused of murdering defence lawyer Pete Mihalik has claimed that a statement was beaten out of him in front of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear who was later gunned down.
This was alleged during the trial of the three men accused of murdering Mihalik, as it resumed in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
This bombshell was dropped when prosecutor Greg Wolmarans said he wanted to take the court through a statement Nkosinathi Khumalo made to Kinnear at the Sea Point police station on the day of the murder, 30 October 2018.
Khumalo was brought in to the police station after his car was pulled over for not stopping at a stop street. Two cars were pulled over. The driver in one car accepted the traffic fine, but the car Khumalo was in, bolted from the scene.
According to an affidavit by Kinnear, submitted in their bail application, Vuyile Maliti was in the VW Polo and accepted his traffic fine, but Khumalo and a passenger in a Renault Clio drove off.
Khumalo came walking back later to say that the driver had just driven away, and that he didn’t know where he was.
He was taken to the Sea Point police station, which, at that point, had a basic description of the vehicles associated with the murder.
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Khumalo was taken in for an interview with Kinnear, the lead investigator in Mihalik’s murder, and one other police officer.
Khumalo claims he was assaulted by the other police officer while he was being interviewed, and coerced into making his statement. He said Kinnear did not assault him, but had watched.
While Khumalo was being questioned, Sizwe Biyela was traced to the Bellville bus depot through phone calls he was receiving. He was also identifiable by CCTV footage as the man who had been at the traffic stop, and so the police went to arrest him.
Maliti had by then travelled to Johannesburg, but he later handed himself in and was also brought to court.
Biyela, Khumalo and Maliti face charges of murder, attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
They have pleaded not guilty.
However, Kinnear was assassinated on 18 September 2020 outside his house in Bishop Lavis so he can’t answer to the claim that he watched a fellow officer allegedly assault Khumalo.
The court is set to hear testimony from the interpreter brought in for the Khumalo interview and expected to be questioned about the torture claims.
The matter was adjourned for a short period for Khumalo and his lawyer to consult over the statement he had made.
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