Pretoria – A private investigator helped the police track down the alleged killers of an elderly Cullinan man, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Tuesday.
Former Scorpions member turned private investigator Daryl Els was testifying in the trial of Mduduzi Sbusiso Hlengethwa, 29, Mphanyana Given Kanyane, 25, and Wonder Mbongezini Makwakwa, 20.
The three have pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering 64-year-old Piet van den Berg and attempting to murder his wife Madelein, 61, during a robbery in Cullinan in July 2009.
They have also denied guilt on charges of arson, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Van den Berg was shot dead and his wife assaulted and locked in a cupboard before the attackers set their house alight, burning it to the ground.
Madelein van den Berg, who has identified the three accused as their attackers, escaped, but is still under psychiatric care.
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Els said he volunteered to help Van den Berg’s family find the killers after seeing an insert on the M-Net actuality programme Carte Blanche, in which Van den Berg’s daughter Teresa Stander pleaded for help.
He tracked down Stander the next day, obtained a mandate to act on behalf of the family and met the investigating officer two days later.
After being allowed to look at the case docket, containing cellphone records, Els realised Van den Berg’s cellphone was still being used, but with another SIM card and number.
He traced the phone to Bertrams, in Johannesburg, with the help of a fellow private investigator.
They found a woman who told them the phone was in the possession of her boyfriend, a security guard. They found the guard and arrested him. He then told them about the person who had sold him the phone.
Because the investigating officer was already back in Cullinan by then, Els went to the Jeppe police station and asked for assistance.
A group of policemen accompanied him to Bertrams, and arrested two men.
Els accepted payment of only R10 for his services.
The two men arrested were expected to testify against the three accused later this week.
Outside court after Tuesday’s hearing, Els told reporters the three accused might never have been identified had it not been for the two arrests in Bertrams.
He was accompanied to court by his fiance Marlene van Niekerk, a long-time friend of Van den Berg’s daughter.
The trial continues.
