Cape Town - The State is trying to prove the three men accused of killing advocate Pete Mihalik orchestrated his assassination in detail and ahead of time.
Sizwe Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti are on trial in the Western Cape High Court where they face charges of murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition for allegedly planning and carrying out the hit on Mihalik.
On Thursday, State advocate Greg Wolmarans revisited the video footage of the vehicle used as one of two getaway cars, seen speeding away after Mihalik was shot twice at close range in Green Point on October 30, 2018.
The video footage shows two vehicles, a silver Polo and a grey Renault, being driven on Upper Portswood Road in Green Point a day before the shooting.
The Polo is heading towards Thornhill Road a few minutes after 7am on October 29, 2018. In showing the video, Wolmarans directed the court’s attention to features on the vehicle, notably the position of the licence disc on the front window, the front grille, an accessory hanging from the inside of the rear-view mirror and a marking on the roof.
He noted the Renault driving behind the Polo in the same direction.
Another clip with the same view of Upper Portswood showed a silver Polo driving in the same direction on October 30 at 7.34am.
Wolmarans then directed the court’s attention to the same features being present on this vehicle as the Polo shown the day before, the only difference being the number plate. Still photographs of the video were handed in as exhibits.
“The purpose obviously of these three photographs is to give the court the easiest opportunity to focus on the front grille, similarities, the object hanging from the interior rear-view mirror of both vehicles, the position of the licence disk of the Polo as we see on the left and right,” he said.
In comparing images of the vehicles on the two different dates, Wolmarans said the features were “exactly similar”.
In the video, Pete Mihalik is also seen driving his black BMW with his children in the front and back seats, coming into the frame just seconds after the Polo vehicle.
On Monday the State intends to lead evidence on the cellphone records of the accused.