Panayiotou asked Vumazonke to kill Jayde: bouncer

Christopher Panayiotou’s bouncer has made yet another u-turn, this time claiming that Panayiotou has asked triggerman Sizwe Vumazonke to kill his wife.

Port Elizabeth – Christopher Panayiotou’s bouncer made yet another u-turn on Monday, this time pointing the finger at alleged triggerman Sizwe Vumazonke, claiming that Panayiotou had asked the now deceased man to kill Jayde.

Luthando Siyoni told the Port Elizabeth High Court that around the time of Jayde’s disappearance, Vumazonke had given him a lift to Infinity nightclub and informed him that Panayiotou was avoiding him.

Answering questions from the prosecution, Siyoni said “Sizwe told me if he does not get his money (from Chris) he will take it ‘out of his body’.”

At this point Defence Advocate Terry Price objected to Siyoni’s evidence as hearsay as Vumazonke has since passed on.

Siyoni said that he had received R80 000 from Panayiotou.

“When Infinity closed I went home with the money. I told myself I’m not going to give Sizwe the full amount,” said Siyoni.

Siyoni said Vumazonke then caught him off guard as he was outside the house.

“He was outside (the house)..I gave him the money and I kept R30 000 for myself.”

Siyoni conceded to the prosecution that he had lied to Sizwe about the full amount of money he had received from Panayiotou.

The alleged middleman testified for the second day in the sixth week of the ongoing trial involving his former boss and two co-accused Sinethemba Nemembe and Zolani Sibeko.

On Friday the court heard the money was apparently for weights Siyoni had wanted to procure for his gym in Kwazakhele.

The court heard that Vumazonke was helping Siyoni to procure the gym equipment, according to the bouncer’s version. This was a contradiction of the statement he initially made to police after his arrest in which he had said he had been asked by Panayiotou to find someone to kill his schoolteacher wife Jayde.

Siyoni said the money stashed at Infinity nightclub was kept for “safe keeping” by his boss because the two had devised a “saving plan” for the bouncer.

Much of Siyoni’s testimony on Monday was extremely confusing, with State prosecutor Marius Stander saying on more than one occasion that he was “totally confused”.

The State alleges that Panayiotou hired Siyoni to recruit hitmen Vumazonke and Nemembe to kidnap and kill Jayde.

Siyoni is testifying as a Section 204 witness, meaning that if the court finds him to have testified honestly he could be granted immunity from prosecution at the end of the trial.

The trial continues.

African News Agency