Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Western Cape High Court trial of the three men accused of murdering lawyer Pete Mihalik revisited the cellphone location data of the accused, which establishes, at the very least, that they knew each other and were together on the day of the murder.
But whether their connection was for an assassination or a Krugerrand deal will be something for the court to decide.
In the meantime, it was left to the last person in the witness stand, gold dealer and taxi owner Vuyile Maliti, to help the State tie up loose ends.
One issue that bothers the State is the sudden radio silence between the three not long after the murder.
State advocate Greg Wolmarans said Maliti owed a considerable amount of money, after a Krugerrand deal, to at least one of the accused, and that going quiet made no sense.
Maliti said he had struck a deal to sell 11 gold coins for co-accused Sizwe Biyela that day, and when they parted, they agreed only to speak again once Maliti had fetched Biyela’s money.
He was called though, by Biyela, who told him that Khumalo’s car went “missing” while a traffic officer was issuing a fine for his failure to stop at a stop street. It allegedly occurred when Khumalo left the scene and returned on foot Khumalo claims the car was stolen under the traffic cop’s nose.
Wolmarans said it was odd that Maliti did not volunteer to help Khumalo in his predicament with the missing car, particularly since Khumalo said he had eight gold coins in the disappeared car. It would affect Maliti’s profit margins for the day’s planned sales.
Maliti said they seemed to have it under control and did not specifically ask him to come out to help.
However, his silence, particularly towards Biyela, who was expecting a juicy payout once Maliti had taken his cut of a R200 000 coin deal, was puzzling.
Wolmarans said there was no communication about where they would do the cash handover.
Maliti said that he had every intention of paying Biyela, but he could not stay in touch because his cellphone battery was flat.
He said he had two cellphones, and Biyela had both numbers, so he could have got hold of him somehow if he was concerned about his money.
Sensing that the State thought he may have had other ideas with Biyela’s gold money, he said: “I am not a crook in that way.”
Biyela already testified that he never saw his money.
But for Wolmarans, the sudden severing of ties not long after Mihalik’s murder made no sense.
“You end up being done. Done! With accused one and two at a certain point on the 30th of October,” said Wolmarans.
“That’s what happened,” said Maliti, shrugging his shoulders in his K-Way jacket.
The trial continues.
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