Plett men acquitted in mob murder of suspected child rapist

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

John Harvey

Three men from KwaNokuthula in Plettenberg Bay men who faced murder charges in the mob killing of a suspected child murderer and rapist in 2011 were acquitted in the Knysna Magistrates Court this week.

Mlamli Desi, Mbonisi Tuli, and Michael Besana were arrested after a mob of more than 2000 KwaNokuthula residents beat and hacked Derrick Shwati, 37, to death on November 28 2011, accusing him of raping and murdering seven-year-old Siphokazi Nini.

Shwati, a convicted rapist, was beaten and hacked to death with pangas after he confessed to murdering the little girl and pointed out her naked body lying in a ditch behind a church.

After Shwati was beaten to death, police said SAPS members were on the scene, but “struggled to force their way through the mob to reach the suspect”.

Shwati was already dead when the police reached him.

At the time of his death, Shwati had recently completed a term of imprisonment for raping and assaulting a young girl in nearby Qolweni informal settlement.

During the trial the State presented evidence from four police officials who were on or near the scene when Shwati was killed.

The court heard that two of the officers were not in a position to identify any of the accused, even though another had testified that he had seen Thuli using a stick to beat Shwati when other community members were still on the way to the scene.

However under cross examination the same officer admitted that he could not actually be certain if Thuli was beating him, or merely threatening to beat him.

Daan Dercksen, the men’s defence attorney, also pointed out discrepancies in the testimony of the state’s chief witness, KwaNokuthula station commissioner Lieutenant-Colonel Gideon Lugebo, who could not explain material differences between and the original police statement and the evidence he presented under cross examination.

Under cross examination Lugebo admitted that the sight of Nini’s body was so “shocking” that he could not think clearly upon its discovery.

On Thursday, prosecutor Aletta Stanvliet conceded that the testimony of Legebo was unsatisfactory and the men had to be acquitted.

Derckson said given the lack of evidence “no court could find the accused guilty”.

In his judgement Magistrate Herman Buhr said “like any person” Shwati had a right to life and the community had no right to take the law into their own hands.

While he was guilty of the rape and murder of Nini, the “law should have followed its course” and Shwati was staring a life sentence in the face in any event.

Buhr told the court that there was simply not enough evidence presented by the state to convict the three men and they should be acquitted on the murder charges.