Publications
Partners
- A Legal Aid lawyer in the Pete Mihalik murder trial was rejected by his client.
- The lawyer had been dealing with allegations that Nkosinathi Khumalo was suffocated and that his head was dunked in water to force him to give police a statement.
- The State expressed concern that Khumalo was not being consulted properly and it might affect his fair trial rights.
One of the men accused of the murder of Pete Mihalik abruptly fired his Legal Aid lawyer after an awkward exchange over whether he was being correctly consulted and represented.
On Wednesday, the State intended to deal with a warning statement Nkosinathi Khumalo made when he was questioned about the assassination of the Cape Town advocate on 30 October 2018.
READ | Semi-automatic 9mm identified as possible gun in Mihalik murder, court hears
The Western Cape High Court has already heard that Khumalo walked back to a traffic officer after his driver fled from a routine pullover for not stopping at a stop street.
In a remarkable breakthrough, police realised he was in one of the cars that possibly ferried the assassins who pumped bullets into Mihalik and his son.
During his bail application, the court was told that Khumalo made some concessions when he was questioned.
Still, when prosecutor Greg Wolmarans tried to introduce the statement in court on Wednesday, things began to go awry.
Khumalo's lawyer, Justin van Rensburg, objected, saying that the contents were in dispute.
Then he dropped a bombshell claim that late investigating officer Charl Kinnear had stood by while a different police officer assaulted Khumalo to force him into making a statement.
Kinnear can't answer this allegation because he was assassinated on 18 September 2020.The matter was postponed on Wednesday to give Van Rensburg time to consult Khumalo further on this. When court began on Thursday, Judge Constance Nziweni asked Khumalo whether he was still happy with his lawyer.
He stood up and said in isiZulu that he was happy.
Van Rensburg then read into the record Khumalo's version of the events after he was taken in for questioning, but they contained far more detail than what emerged on Tuesday.
At the Sea Point police station, he said, a plastic bag was repeatedly put over his head and he was smothered.
Then, he was taken to what he presumed was a house because it had a bathtub. His head was repeatedly dunked in water in the tub. At that point, a large group of police officers was watching.
Then he was taken back to a police station - he's not sure which one - and was repeatedly assaulted. He was eventually given a statement to sign.
He denied the contents of the statement and said he would have signed anything at that point because he was traumatised.
"Yes, I signed it, but I defy anybody not to do the same after the traumatic events I experienced at the hands of the police at the end of the first day," Van Rensburg said on behalf of Khumalo.
He added:
Van Rensburg added that Khumalo said the interpreter facilitating the questioning spoke isiXhosa, a language he is not completely familiar with as an isiZulu speaker. He does not know the name of the large group of police officers involved but said he would recognise them.
Wolmarans objected to the shift in details in Khumalo's statement and said that Van Rensburg seemed not to have consulted Khumalo properly.
Wolmarans said Khumalo faces a 15-year jail sentence if found guilty and at present, his constitutional rights to a fair trial are not being served by Van Rensburg, judging by how Van Rensburg says he "misspoke" when he gets something wrong.
In an astounding development, he called Khumalo's counsel "inadequate" and "inconsistent", and that his submissions on behalf of Khumalo were "clear as mud".
Nziweni asked Khumalo to stand up and again asked him if he wanted to keep Khumalo as his lawyer, given the concerns raised. This time, Khumalo said no.
Within minutes, Van Rensburg had packed up and vacated his seat and left the court. Now the court has to find another Legal Aid representative for Khumalo and transcribe proceedings for that lawyer to catch up. The matter was adjourned until 14:15 for further instruction.
Nkosinathi, Sizwe Biyela and Vuyile Maliti are on trial for Mihalik's murder, the attempted murder of his two children, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Did you know you can listen to articles? Subscribe to News24 for access to this exciting feature and more.
