Cape Town - The Anti-Gang Unit detective who referred to herself as slain detective Charl Kinnear’s “partner” on Tuesday said there was no team assigned to investigate Pete Mihalik’s murder, and that she and other officers on the case were merely assisting Kinnear.
Leatitia van der Horst took the stand on Monday where she explained how they were able to apprehend Sizwe Biyela at a bus station in Bellville using video footage of the shooting.
Van der Horst’s testimony came in the midst of Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti’s trial in the Western Cape High Court where they face charges of assassinating top criminal lawyer Mihalik.
Van der Horst explained that she was in the car with Kinnear on October 30, 2018, when he received a call to attend the crime scene in Green Point minutes after Mihalik was shot and killed.
She said Kinnear asked her to find footage from cameras in the area that may have captured the incident and following his instruction, she found the footage that has since been played in court, showing exactly how Mihalik was shot.
Van der Horst then took an image of the suspected shooter in the video and used it to identify a man at a bus station in Bellville hours later.
She said when they identified him at the bus station, he was wearing different clothes, blue jeans with a dark/ black top, compared with beige pants and a check shirt in the video.
She said they apprehended Biyela at the bus station, then stopped at the Pinelands police station where Kinnear explained to fellow officers that Biyela would be detained at Cape Town Central police station.
She testified that she was called by Kinnear to sign as the commissioner of oaths, while Kinnear recorded statements from Biyela and Khumalo on November 1, 2018.
During cross-examination by Biyela’s lawyer, Van der Horst was asked: “According to you, you had the photo on the cellphone and according to you, you identified accused one (Biyela)?”
She said: “Yes, that’s correct, I had the photo on my cellphone.
“Myself and the colonel ,we walked together and there we both saw him and then we checked.
“The colonel saw him and he checked on the phone, and that’s when the colonel apprehended him.”
With the help of Acting Judge Constance Nziweni, Khumalo’s lawyer asked her whether she had assisted Kinnear on a voluntary basis or if she was asked to assist the detective.
“I was Colonel Kinnear’s partner, so the two of us were working together. We assisted each other in our work,” Van der Horst said.
The trial continues on Thursday.