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Dorothy Carlyle was accosted by three men in the driveway of her home. She was bundled into the back of her car and later tied up with cable ties and put into the boot. PICTURE: SIBUSISO NDLOVU
Durban – A young girl, who was with the men who allegedly hijacked Durban North estate agent Dorothy Carlyle and kept her captive for nine hours, implicated three men in the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday.
The girl, who cannot be named because she is a minor, was initially charged with S’thembiso Ntombela, Lindokuhle Dlamini and Simiso Ximba, but charges against her have been withdrawn and she has agreed to testify against the men.
Two other girls, who were also with the men on the day of the hijacking, were also expected to testify.
Carlyle was accosted by three men in the driveway of her home on October 2 last year. She was bundled into the back of her car and later tied up with cable ties and put into the boot.
The girl recounted how she and her friends “drank and took drugs” after they were picked up on the night of the hijacking in Carlyle’s BMW.
She said Ntombela, who had driven the car at times, kept Carlyle’s cellphone and bank card.
She said the men left Carlyle at a vacant house, but had to go back to fetch her because she was “noisy”.
“Accused two’s (Dlamini) friend who had given them the key for the house phoned accused one (Ntombela) and told him that the white lady was making a noise and this would cause trouble. So we went back to pick her up.”
Attorney Thobani Sigcau, acting for Dlamini and Ximba, said the girl had implicated the men so that she could be exonerated from prosecution.
The girl denied this and said she was telling the truth because she had been assured by the police that she should not be afraid of the men.
Earlier in the trial, Carlyle recounted how she was stabbed and later hit in the face when she screamed after two of the men tried to rape her.
She was later rescued by the police from the car, which had been parked outside a KwaMashu shebeen.
Ximba and Ntombela have also been charged with an armed robbery and attempted hijacking in Durban North in August last year, during which Meena Parbulall and her two teenage sons were accosted outside her parents’ home.
The case was adjourned to next week and all the men are in custody.
The Mercury
