Tracker evidence links movements of two rental cars before AKA and Tibz murders - IOL

The seven men who are on trial for AKA and Tibz murder. From left Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, Siyanda Eddie Myeza, Mziwethemba Gwabeni, Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, Malusi Dave Ndimande and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande

Car tracker data presented in the murder trial of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane has revealed striking similarities in the movements of two rental cars on the day the pair were gunned down on Florida Road in Durban.

A grey VW Polo and a Hyundai Grand i10 were both rented from the same car hire company by accused Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni. While CCTV footage has placed the VW outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Umhlanga, where AKA and his crew were staying, and on Florida Road, where the killings took place, currently no evidence has been presented to link the Hyundai to the murders.

However, Cartrack employee Carel Dreyer Rothmann told the Durban High Court on Wednesday that tracking data showed the two vehicles were in the same locations at several points before their movements diverged later that evening.

The night before the murders, both vehicles were parked at Keller Place in the Durban CBD.

“If they were not parked in the same building, they were definitely in the same area on Gillespie Street at Keller Place,” Rothmann said.

On the afternoon of February 10, 2023, the data again placed both vehicles at the same location. Shortly after 8pm, their ignitions were switched on within seconds of each other.

“The difference is mere seconds when both cars start their ignition again,” Rothmann told the court.

The vehicles then travelled along the same route before both ignitions were switched off shortly after 8.30pm on the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Freeway.

“It would seem they are following each other or headed in the same direction,” Rothmann said.

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.

“From around 9pm the two cars are no longer in the same area,” Rothmann said.

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. Rothmann said this indicated 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.

Gwabeni has not denied renting the VW but has told the court that he hired it for his employees and that anyone could have been driving it at any given time.

After the murders, the VW was tracked to Umlazi before returning to Keller Place shortly after 11pm.

Ndimande, Gwabeni and accused Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi are standing trial alongside Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, Siyanda Eddie Myeza and brothers Malusi and Siyabonga Ndimande in connection with the February 2023 murders.