The murder trial of rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes and his friend Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane has heard new evidence from Cartrack employee Carel Dreyer Rothmann. He testified at the Durban High Court that tracking data revealed striking similarities in the movements of two rental cars on the day of the murders. The cars, a grey VW Polo and a Hyundai Grand i10, were rented from the same company by accused Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni.
According to Rothmann, the tracking data showed that both vehicles were in the same locations at several points before their movements diverged later that evening. On the night before the murders, both vehicles were parked at Keller Place in the Durban CBD. The next afternoon, the data again placed both vehicles at the same location. Shortly after 8pm, their ignitions were switched on within seconds of each other.
The vehicles then travelled along the same route before both ignitions were switched off shortly after 8:30pm on the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Freeway. Using Google Earth coordinates, Rothmann placed both vehicles on the M4 on-ramp in the Jacobs area during this period. The pattern changed at around 9pm, when the vehicles were no longer recorded in the same area.
The VW Polo headed towards Florida Road, where AKA and Tibz were shot dead. The Hyundai i10, meanwhile, travelled along South Coast Road towards Umlazi before being tracked on two other roads in the area. CCTV footage previously shown in court captured the VW double-parked on Florida Road. A Durban Metro police officer approached the vehicle before it drove off, performed a U-turn and parked elsewhere.
Rothmann's tracking data was consistent with the vehicle's movements shown in the footage. It recorded the ignition being switched on for "about two minutes then off again and still on Florida Road at 22:06". The vehicle was recorded travelling at 0km/h while its ignition was on, indicating that it was "moving slowly and not parked".
A previous witness identified accused Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande as the person who got out of the VW and entered Wish restaurant on Florida Road, where AKA and his crew were having dinner. The State alleges that Ndimande acted as a spotter inside the restaurant, monitoring the rapper before he was killed outside.
Seven men are on trial for AKA and Tibz's murder: Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, Malusi Dave Ndimande, and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande. Gwabeni has not denied renting the VW but claims he hired it for his employees and that anyone could have been driving it at any given time.
Key points
- The trial has heard evidence that two rental cars travelled together before the murders of AKA and Tibz.
- The tracking data revealed suspicious similarities in the movements of the two vehicles on the day of the murders.
- The trial continues with seven men accused of the murder.
