Cape Town – A third suspect is expected to appear with Sizwe Biyela and Nkosinathi Khumalo in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Thursday over the alleged hit on lawyer Pete Mihalik.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut confirmed that a 35-year-old man had handed himself over to police on Wednesday.
Biyela, 26, and Khumalo, 31, both from KwaZulu-Natal, were arrested by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) within hours of the murder and have also been charged with attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition.
The 50-year-old Mihalik was in the process of dropping off his children at Reddam House in Green Point Tuesday morning last week when he was shot and killed.
Three shots were fired through the driver's window and his son sustained a gunshot wound to the jaw while his daughter wasn't injured. The shooters fled in a silver VW Polo.
Meanwhile, the Daily Voice reported that a Kuils River resident says he and his family are living in fear after one of Mihalik’s suspected assassins was caught by cops inside his home.
Dean Smeda, who lives in a secure housing complex in Kuils River, says he was shocked to get a call from his neighbours saying a truckload of cops had pulled up at his house.
Smeda said the suspect, believed to have been Khumalo, had come through the security turnstile at the front of the complex, broken into his home and was sitting in the lounge when cops arrested him. Neighbours had noticed the stranger in the complex and called local authorities.
An hour later, “a 17-vehicle convoy”, some marked “AGU”, descended on the complex and headed straight for Smeda’s house.
"I was on my way home from work when my neighbour told me my door had been smashed open by the police. There was apparently a man sitting on my couch, making himself right at home. He was armed,” the shocked father said.
“He tried to convince the police that he lived there and they went through our things, our pictures and utility bills. Obviously, the guy did not belong and he was arrested and taken away.
"My neighbours took pictures of all of this and their phones were confiscated by police. By the time I arrived home, police had already left,” Smeda said.
A source close to Mihalik said he was an important figure in the underworld and “knew too much”.
“They had R5 million on his head. He was a person to be reckoned with. The day before his death, he received threats. Pete was talking to too many people about his cases.”