Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte, who were convicted of murder in 2018, have been acquitted on appeal.
The two men were initially found guilty of murdering Matlhomola Moshoeu in Coligny in the North West. Doorewaard and Schutte claimed that they had caught Moshoeu stealing sunflower seeds in April 2017 on a farm owned by Doorewaard’s uncle. Doorewaard and Schutte detained Moshoeu and said they were taking him to a police station when he jumped off a moving bakkie, where he injured himself which led to his death. However, Doorewaard and Schutte were accused by the state of killing Moshoeu, after beating him and throwing him from the moving vehicle. They were also found guilty of kidnapping, intimidation, theft, and pointing a firearm.
In 2018 they were found guilty and Schutte was sentenced to 23 years behind bars and Doorewaard to 18 years in jail.
The two were convicted on the basis of the testimony of a single witness, Bonakele Pakisi, who later admitted to the Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport, that he had not in fact witnessed the alleged incident.
The judge who found them guilty, Ronald Hendricks, initially denied them leave to appeal, but this was subsequently granted on appeal.
Yesterday the Supreme Court of Appeal set aside their conviction and said they were free men.
IRR analyst Gabriel Crouse did much work to cast doubt on the version of events laid out by the state during the trial, which you can read here, here, and here.