Mihalik’s accused killers go on trial
THE three men accused of assassinating well-known Cape Town criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik appeared in the Western Cape High Court yesterday almost four years after he was killed. The case was postponed to tomorrow as legal representation for one of the accused was unavailable.
Sizwe Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti are charged with five counts of murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition for their alleged involvement in Mihalik’s murder.
A Mihalik family member, who did not want to be named, said they had been anxiously waiting for the trial to start.
“All the postponements have been stressful for us. It’s been very frustrating, but we are happy that it has finally come to trial and we are very grateful for the prosecution.”
Mihalik was seated in his car when he was shot in the head as he dropped off his children at the Reddam House school in Green Point on October 30, 2018.
The State alleged that four men had waited at the corner of Cavalcade and Thornhill roads a few minutes before Mihalik arrived at the school. The State said that when he stopped at the intersection for his daughter to exit the vehicle, Biyela approached the vehicle on foot from where he had been waiting for a few minutes.
The State alleges that Biyela fired two shots directly at Mihalik’s head with a 9mm pistol; Biyela and the unknown men were then picked up as they fled the scene.
It is alleged that Biyela and Khumalo had been flown to Cape Town specifically to execute the hit and they worked under the instruction of Maliti, who was linked to the murder by the investigating officer at the time, Charl Kinnear, through cellphone data.
It later emerged that Maliti was already serving a sentence for a separate matter at a prison outside of the province.
Kinnear had told the magistrate’s court that Maliti’s call records indicated that a total of 84 calls were made between the accused the day before and the day of the murder.
Biyela and Khumalo were arrested shortly after the incident after the getaway vehicles were pulled over by traffic officers. The vehicles matched those identified at the crime scene.
At the time of his death, Mihalik was linked to the alleged dealings of underground figures Nafiz Modack and Mark Lifman by detective Kinnear.
Modack now stands accused of the murder of Kinnear, who was assassinated outside his home in September 2020.