A Worcester man has told the Western Cape High Court how he gave alleged child killer Mohydian Pangaker and Tazne van Wyk a lift, not knowing the little girl had been kidnapped.
Trevor Noble testified that Pangaker told him and his friends liegstories, claiming he was taking the eight-year-old to her mother in Beaufort West.
The Grade 3 pupil from Eurecon Primary School went missing on 7 February 2020.
Noble said on that Friday night, he was driving his white BMW on the N1 near Worcester when they spotted Pangaker, 56, and Tazne.
“My friend Allison [Carelse] said there is a child and we must turn around. She said we could not leave them because it was dangerous.
“He told us he was on his way to Beaufort West to take the child to her mother and not long after that, we were stopped at a roadblock.
“The traffic officer asked for my licence and I asked him if anyone could take them to Beaufort West.
“He told me to go to Bergsig Motors by the garage because the trucks normally stand there.”
Earlier in the trial, video footage of Noble’s car was shown to the court.
Noble said on arrival at the petrol station, Tazne walked with the woman to the toilet but had given no indication that she had been kidnapped.
“She (Tazne) didn’t say anything in the car, only that she was still at school. When we got there, they went to the toilet and he went to the truck drivers.
“When I told him it was safer to wait here, he told me that there were too many cameras. Me, who is from Worcester, didn’t even know about the cameras.”
He said he got a skrik two days later when he saw a missing persons poster of Tazne.
“It was only on the Sunday that I saw the Pink Ladies poster on Facebook and then we realised that this was the kidnapped child.”
Pangaker was arrested in Cradock on 19 February and led police to a stormwater drain near Worcester where Tazne’ body was dumped.
The state also called Pangaker’s friend Andrew Ricardo Cupido to testify about the times when Pangaker stayed at his council flat in Worcester.
Cupido had the court in stitches when he told the judge about how they suiped so much he could not even remember who was there anymore.
Sitting in the dock wearing a black fez, Pangaker smirked as Cupido told the court about the weekend which led up to the assault on Pangaker’s daughter.
“He gave me R500 and I bought the liquor with it because I had my own money to go to Cape Town. The accused was there, his wife [daughter] and I think Garth, but I cannot remember because I was so dronk.
“We drank from the Saturday into the Sunday. But I made it on time for my taxi.”
The case continues.