Shock for car rental firm owner
Court hears of tears as tracker indicated link to Jayde’s murder
THE co-owner of a car rental company broke down in tears when she realised one of her vehicles may have been used in the commission of Uitenhage teacher Jayde Panayiotou’s murder.
Warrant Officer Johannes Botes, of the Mount Road vehicle theft unit, said that after the arrest of alleged triggerman Sizwezakhe Vumazonke on May 3 last year, he (Botes) returned the VW Polo he had been using to Zems Wheels and Deals.
That was when Botes discovered that Vumazonke – who has since died – had rented another vehicle from Zems at the time of Jayde’s kidnapping and murder.
Botes said the woman at the rental company helped him view the tracking information on the Toyota Etios, which Vumazonke rented between April 9 and 23 last year.
“She set it up on the computer. We looked at the tracking information on the day of Jayde’s disappearance,” Botes said
“We followed the tracker from KwaNobuhle to Kwazakhele. At the residence of Jayde there were red lines indicating where he [allegedly] drove around.
“The vehicle then allegedly picks Jayde up and they take a back road past Rocklands before turning into a farm near KwaNobuhle.”
The state claims Jayde, 29, was kidnapped from outside her Kabega Park home on April 21, driven to an open field in KwaNobuhle township and then shot dead.
Her husband, Christopher Panayiotou, 30, is accused of orchestrating her murder.
“[The woman] cried because her car was used to murder Jayde,” Botes said.
Earlier yesterday, an expert witness told the Port Elizabeth High Court how a tracker fitted in the Etios showed it had circled Jayde’s Stellen Glen complex in Deacon Road on April 21 – going no faster than 25km/h – before suddenly stopping, then speeding off at about 130km/h.
Later, the vehicle allegedly stopped on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth, where Jayde was shot dead. Lorenz Stoger, of Cartrack (Pty) Ltd, said that on April 13 the rental vehicle could be traced to Ruth Street in Glen Hurd, where Jayde’s colleague, Cherise Swanepoel, lived at the time.
The state claims that on the days leading up to the murder, Vumazonke, 36, Sinethemba Nemembe, 28, and on occasion, Zolani Sibeko, 35, circled Jayde’s route to work and Swanepoel’s residence, as the two would car pool. All have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial continues today, with Botes expected to be cross-examined by the defence.