Cape Town - The trial of Moyhdian Pangkaeker will continue in the Western Cape High Court today, where the man accused of killing Tazne van Wyk, 8, will return to the stand for further cross-examination on how the girl was killed.
Pangkaeker incurred the wrath of community activists and Tazne’s parents following shocking claims that he, too, was a victim when Tazne was killed.
Tazne’s remains were found in a stormwater drain off the N1 in Worcester, two weeks after her disappearance from her home in Clare Street, Elsies River, on February 7, 2020.
Much has been made about Pangkaeker’s status as a parolee at the time of the alleged kidnap, rape and murder of the little girl. He has been charged for absconding from monitoring.
Last week Pangkaeker told the court that he was “deliberate” when he skipped the province in January 2019 and moved to Johannesburg while he was still on parole.
He told the court that he informed a senior correctional services official that he was leaving for a job in Joburg and went to their offices, but nobody was there. He also said that he had difficulty getting to the nearest police station when he arrived in Joburg.
“I told him I got another job, I was going to Joburg shortly. He was laughing as if I was joking. He heard me but he was laughing in my face,” Pangkaeker said.
He said he was supposed to get work as a bouncer but did a temporary stint in security at a butchery for a few days after he packed up his family, sold their bungalow for R3 000 and moved into a shelter in Joburg.
Pangkaeker was released on parole in 2016 after being convicted of culpable homicide.
In telling the court his version of how Tazne was killed, he said four foreign nationals picked him up off the side of the road in Worcester, where they put him in the back of a bakkie and bound his hands and feet with a scarf. He said Tazne had forced her way into the bakkie after they had been wandering in the dark for hours.
According to Pangkaeker, as they drove with him and Tazne at the back, they came to a stop close to a dam, dragged her out of the bakkie.
“He then got out and they grabbed Tazne, now I’m worried and asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ The lady said, ‘It’s not your trouble.’ Tazne started screaming, I couldn’t move, I almost fell out on my face,” Pangkaeker said.
He said he screamed out for Tazne but she didn’t respond and he couldn’t see because it was dark.
“I called the lady, but when she came to me her hands were full of blood and I was trying to figure out what was going on, but my mind was closed,” Pangkaeker said.
He added that when they carried Tazne and put her body in a “pipe”, all he could see was a plastic bag and “her little head was hanging”.