CAPE TOWN - The man accused of the rape and murder of eight-year-old Tazne van Wyk claims four foreign nationals are responsible.
The girl was last seen alive near her Elsies River home in February 2020, and more than a week later, police arrested the accused in the Eastern Cape. He led officers to her body in a storm water pipe along the N1 highway near Worcester.
On Wednesday, the accused (who’s not being named to protect some of his alleged victims) spent a third day on the stand, describing his version of events.
The accused said he spoke to van Wyk at a spaza shop located next door to where he was living in Elsies River. He claims that he then went home, planning to hitchhike to Worcester, after visiting a local mosque.
Later, while crossing the main road, he suddenly saw the girl beside him. According to his version, a Toyota Quantum minibus pulled up and four foreign nationals asked for directions to a nearby informal settlement called Malawi Camp.
The accused claims van Wyk then agreed to show them how to get there and he felt he was obligated to follow her into the taxi. After collecting a bag in Malawi Camp, they drove to Worcester where the accused and eight-year-old were dropped off near a filling station along the N1 highway.
The accused told the court he tried to hitchhike back to Cape Town, but before he and the girl could catch a lift, the four migrants from the minibus, returned in a Toyota bakkie.
He further testifies he was tied up and driven to Laingsburg, more than a 150 kilometers from Worcester, before the vehicle turned around. On their way back to Worcester, he says they stopped and Van Wyk was taken away.
He said when they returned he could see the eight-year-old wrapped up with her head hanging. He says when they stopped at Worcester, he said he saw two men carrying the girl to a stormwater pipe along the N1.
According to the accused’s version he was then driven to Bloemfontein, where he was kicked out of the bakkie.
