Afriforum: Twitter
There has been mixed reaction on social media to the news that the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has acquitted the two men previously found guilty of the so-called Sunflower murder at Coligny in North West Province.
Comments ranged from ‘sanity prevails’ to ‘I can scarcely believe this’ and ‘Matlhomola Moshoeu died in vain’.
In March of last year, Pieter Doorewaard was sentenced to 18 years in prison and Philip Schutte was jailed for 23 years after they were found guilty of the murder and kidnapping of the teenager.
It was alleged at the time of the incident in April of 2017 that they caught 16-year-old Moshoeu stealing sunflower heads from their employer’s farm.
They maintained their innocence throughout the trial and claimed that Moshoeu died when he jumped from their moving bakkie while they were on their way to the police station.
The civil rights organisation AfriForum welcomed the acquittal of Schutte and Doorewaard in a statement on Friday afternoon.
“We are very thankful for the acquittal,” said Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel.
“AfriForum has said from the very beginning that the State’s only witness lied and therefore the organisation decided to finance the two men’s application for appeal. AfriForum has covered the full costs of the application for appeal because we believed in their innocence and today justice was served,” Kriel concluded.
