Apartheid-era cops plead not guilty to 1987 murder of Caiphus Nyoka

Three former apartheid-era police officers have pleaded not guilty to the 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka.

Former riot cop Pieter Stander, along with Leon van den Berg and Abram Engelbrecht – both former members of the Benoni Security Branch – appeared in the Gauteng High Court sitting in Benoni on Tuesday.

John Marais, a former Section Leader of the Reaction Unit 6 in Dunnottar pleaded guilty to the killing of Nyoka last week in the Pretoria High Court and was found guilty of murder.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said after the guilty plea was read into the record, Marais was released on R 5000 bail, with conditions that he should not interfere with state witnesses and that he should not communicate with the other three co-accused.

“He was also ordered not to leave the jurisdiction of Springs without informing the investigating officer, and he should hand in his passport to the investigating officer and not apply for a new one.  

“The matter was postponed to 27 January 2025 for a psychological report.”  

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Murder

At the time of his death, Nyoka was a student activist and a member of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas).

On the evening of 23 August 1987, Marais and some of the members of the security branch and other units within the South African police allegedly met to discuss a plan to kill Nyoka. A plan to raid his home was allegedly devised under the then-commanding officer Van den Berg, who was also charged separately.

In the early hours of 24 August 1987 at about 2.30am, Marais, together with Sergeant Pieter Stander, Sergeant Abram Hercules Engelbrecht and other members of the Reaction Unit who are also charged separately, allegedly arrived at Nyoka’s homestead and stormed Nyoka’s room.

They allegedly found him with three of his friends sleeping. After identifying him, they allegedly removed the friends from the room and thereafter proceeded to shoot him nine times.  He died on the scene as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. 

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