Hijacked car driven to wedding, court hears

Hours after hijacking a car and killing a Gillitts resident, the
hijackers used the stolen vehicle to attend a wedding at Gingindlovu in
Zululand.
This was heard during the trial of one of the alleged hijackers in the
Durban High Court on Monday.
Jennifer-Rae Hall, 22, a beauty therapist from Winston Park, was shot
and killed and her friend, Kate Flemming, wounded when they were
hijacked at Amanzimtoti on June 14 last year.
Amy Lansdell, who was also in the car, was uninjured in the incident.
The white VW Polo the women were travelling in was stolen by the hijackers.
Sifundo Mkhize, 23, of Illovo township near Amanzimtoti, is on trial on
charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating
circumstances. He pleaded not guilty on Monday.
Defence advocate Thiagaraj Pillay said Mkhize did not know how to drive.
However, one of Mkhize's friends, Sduduzo Madida, who testified for the
State, said he saw Mkhize and another man in a white VW Polo on that day.
"When they came to me, the car was driven by the accused… I had (also)
seen him driving cars before that day."
Flemming testified: "As Jennifer-Rae was reversing out of the parking
lot, a man came to the driver's window with a gun and fired the gun."
She said it was only after the car was driven away that she saw Hall
lying underneath the bus shelter. The trial continues today.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury
<http://www.themercury.co.za/>* on June 09, 2009 [summarised]