Two farm workers who pushed a teenage boy out of a moving van after accusing him of stealing sunflowers have been convicted of murder by South Africa’s High Court.
The defence called for the court to drop all charges against Schutte and downgrade the charge against Doorewaard to “culpable homicide” - a charge similar to that of manslaughter.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the sole eyewitness of the incident, Bonakele Pakisi, testified that Mosweu, known as Faki among his friends, was pushed from the vehicle, reports South African news agency Independent Online. A postmortem report found that the teen broke his neck when he fell from the truck.
Doorewaard and Schutte were found guilty of “murder, kidnapping, intimidation, theft and pointing of a firearm”.
During the hearing, Judge Ronnie Hendricks said: “It is difficult to believe the assumption that the deceased jumped from the van.
“It makes no sense. Why he would all of a sudden, and for no reason, after being so cooperative, jump? I am of the view that their [the accused’s] versions are not reasonably possibly true and are rejected.”
South Africa’s Eyewitness News says that there was “jubilation in the courtroom” when the judge delivered his guilty verdict. A local community member said: “We are happy that Matlhomola has finally got justice, we are very happy.”
Doorewaard and Schutte will remain in custody until they appear again tomorrow for sentencing.
Mosweu’s death, in October 2017, set off a “mass violent protest” in Coligny that “left six houses and three trucks torched and several shops looted and damaged”, reports Johannesburg-based newspaper The Citizen
France24 notes that “racially charged incidents between white farm owners and managers and poor black farmhands are common in South Africa”. The news site points to a 2016 case in which two white farmers in eastern Mpumalanga province forced a black man accused of trespassing into a coffin and threatened to set him on fire.
“The case sparked outrage after a video of the incident emerged on social media, and the two were handed jail terms of 19 and 16 years,” France24 says.
-
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ comes into confounding focusIn the Spotlight What began as a plan to redevelop the Gaza Strip is quickly emerging as a new lever of global power for a president intent on upending the standing world order
-
‘It’s good for the animals, their humans — and the veterinarians themselves’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The world is entering an era of ‘water bankruptcy’The explainer Water might soon be more valuable than gold
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
South Africa wraps up G20 summit boycotted by USSpeed Read Trump has been sparring with South Africa in recent months
