Lost in translation: Mihalik murder case postponed till April 17

02 April 2019 - 18:55 By ARON HYMAN, MATTI GELLMAN and KAMAL MORGAN
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Advocate Pete Mihalik was gunned down in Cape Town in October last year.
Advocate Pete Mihalik was gunned down in Cape Town in October last year.
Image: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Adrian de Kock

Three men accused of murdering Cape Town advocate Pete Mihalik had their bail postponed on Tuesday due to a missing interpreter.

Alleged KZN hitmen Sizwe Biyela, 26, and Nkosinathi Khumalo, 31, were arrested on the same day they allegedly murdered Mihalik in Green Point on October 30 2018.

The alleged "fixer" in the murder, Vuyile Militi, 35, handed himself over to police a week later.

But the men will have to keep waiting to apply for bail, after the Cape Town Magistrate's Court was unable to locate the Zulu interpreter.

Biyela and Khumalo's legal aid attorneys said the interpreter was needed so that their clients could follow the court proceedings.

Both hid their faces from photographers in court and seemed visibly stressed - although less so than in previous appearances, when Biyela could be seen shaking.

Biyela, a taxi owner from Khayelitsha, is being represented by one of SA's most formidable law firms, BDK Attorneys, who sent down former director Jannie Kruger to represent his client in what was supposed to be their bail hearing.

Kruger was visibly concerned about the lack of a Zulu interpreter for the suspects, citing his need to make a flight back to Johannesburg at 5pm.

The court was filled with family and friends of the accused, as well as members of the media and about 10 armed members of the police's anti-gang unit.

The case was postponed until April after the interpreter failed to pitch up - and for further investigation.


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