Cape Town - A Green Point resident on Monday testified in the Western Cape High Court regarding the identification of the getaway vehicle which travelled at high speed on Thornhill Road after hearing the two gunshots that killed criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik.
The three men accused of assassinating Mihalik, Sizwe Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo, and Vuyile Maliti appeared, after there had been difficulty in securing Anti-Gang Unit officers for security measures.
Mihalik was sitting in his car when he was shot in the head, as he dropped off his children at Reddam House school, in Green Point, on October 30, 2018.
Frank Scherf, who stayed closed to the school, testified that he took a partial number plate, after he spotted a speeding vehicle.
“I was in my lounge in the apartment. I heard what sounded like two gunshots. I ran out on to the balcony after hearing the gunshots, and I saw a vehicle come speeding down the road towards our building.
“As the vehicle turned to the left, I looked to see what type of vehicle it was and number plate. I managed just to get the first few digits. I wrote the digits of the number plate and punched them into my phone immediately.”
He described it as a dark grey French hatchback vehicle. A statement made by the witness was handed in as evidence, where-in he identified the number plate as “HR06GP”.
The State prosecutor later showed the witness an image of a vehicle matching the description he gave, with the registration number “HR06GP”, and told the court it was from a rental fleet. The vehicle was then identified as a Renault Clio, the same description given by the traffic officer who testified last week.
Asked about the scene outside the school, the witness said when he ran down to enquire about the gunshots, he saw a group of people surrounding a black car.
“The driver of the vehicle had been shot and the principal had come. I saw a young girl and a young boy – the boy had been shot, the young girl was fine. One of the parents took the boy out of the car’s back seat and drove him off to hospital,” he said.
He also said he knew the vehicle because it would come roaring up the hill around the same time, between 7.20am and 7.45am, every morning.
The State alleges four men had awaited Mihalik to arrive, and that Biyela approached the vehicle on foot and fired two gunshots, killing Mihalik and injuring his son.