State claims Coligny farmers left crime scene as had other things to do
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Two farmers accused of the murder of a teenage boy in Coligny, North West, allegedly left the scene of the crime, saying they couldn't stay as they had other business elswhere.
Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Philip Schutte, 34, appeared in the Coligny Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for an urgent bail application. They each face a charge of murder following the death of Matlhomola Mosweu, who they claim fell from their vehicle. The State, however intends adding another two charges to the charge sheet - one of kidnapping and one of defeating the ends of justice.
The court yesterday heard the affidavits of both men - claiming there were exceptional circumstances warranting their release on bail. The men questioned the strength of the evidence against them and both detailed their community and family ties in the area. They also highlighted their willingness to comply with any and all bail conditions imposed upon them, and said the conditions in the holding cells were appalling.
Brigadier Clifford Kgorane, who forms part of the investigating team, testified that when the two men refused to take the police officer on duty to the scene.
Kgorane further said an eyewitness to the crime would testify that Mosweu was pushed from the farmers' bakkie, loaded back on the vehicle and thrown off again. He says the witness was also threatened at gunpoint by the two men warning him not to tell anyone what he saw.
Doorewaard and Schutte said in their affidavits that Mosweu jumped from their bakkie and broke his neck on April 20. He died on the way to hospital. There were no other witnesses, they said. Mosweu's death led to violent protests in the North West farming town last week, following rumours that he was killed in a racially-motivated attack. He was allegedly caught stealing sunflowers.
Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Philip Schutte, 34, appeared in the Coligny Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for an urgent bail application. They each face a charge of murder following the death of Matlhomola Mosweu, who they claim fell from their vehicle. The State, however intends adding another two charges to the charge sheet - one of kidnapping and one of defeating the ends of justice.
The court yesterday heard the affidavits of both men - claiming there were exceptional circumstances warranting their release on bail. The men questioned the strength of the evidence against them and both detailed their community and family ties in the area. They also highlighted their willingness to comply with any and all bail conditions imposed upon them, and said the conditions in the holding cells were appalling.
Brigadier Clifford Kgorane, who forms part of the investigating team, testified that when the two men refused to take the police officer on duty to the scene.
Kgorane further said an eyewitness to the crime would testify that Mosweu was pushed from the farmers' bakkie, loaded back on the vehicle and thrown off again. He says the witness was also threatened at gunpoint by the two men warning him not to tell anyone what he saw.
Doorewaard and Schutte said in their affidavits that Mosweu jumped from their bakkie and broke his neck on April 20. He died on the way to hospital. There were no other witnesses, they said. Mosweu's death led to violent protests in the North West farming town last week, following rumours that he was killed in a racially-motivated attack. He was allegedly caught stealing sunflowers.
