Coligny duo’s murder appeal denied
Civil rights group AfriForum said it would help convicted murderers Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte to appeal their sentences.
Doorewaard (L) was jailed for at least 18 years and Schutte (R) was jailed for at least 23. Picture: AFP / File / Wikus DE WET
Lobby group AfriForum’s application to appeal the conviction of two men found guilty of the murder of a teenager in Coligny has been denied.
The High Court in Mmabatho was examining a judgment regarding Pieter Doorewaard, 28, and Phillip Schutte, 35, who were sentenced to an effective 18 and 23 years respectively for killing 16-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu.
Three more years were added to their sentence for kidnapping, two more for intimidation and a year for pointing of a firearm. The sentences are running concurrently.
The pair were sentenced after the court heard that they pushed Mosweu out of a moving van in April 2017 after Mosweu allegedly stole sunflower seeds worth R80 at their farm near Scotland informal settlement.
AfriForum’s CEO Kallie Kriel said the organisation would help with the appeal as Bonakele Pakisi, “the only eyewitness in the murder case, admitted to lying in court when testifying that he had seen Doorewaard and Schutte killing Moshoeu”.
AfriForum funded the appeal costs to allow advocate Barry Roux, senior counsel, to take on the case. Advocate Gerrie Nel and his team at AfriForum’s private prosecution unit would also provide support in investigating the case, said Kriel.
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