Pretoria – On the eve of hearing their fate, two Pretoria men – who so severely assaulted a man in an apparent racial incident that he died of complications relating to his injuries – offered to compensate his family.
Sampie Diedericks, 34, of Zandfontein, west of Pretoria, and Louis Coetzer, 35, from Silverton, were earlier convicted in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, of murdering Nndwakhulu Charles Magoro.
He worked as an agricultural extension officer in the city.
The two kicked Magoro, 52, while they were wearing boots on October 30, 2014, on the corner of Taaifontein Street and Old Moloto Road in Kameeldrift, north of the city.
They also slammed him several times against a traffic sign next to the road.
Magoro died about a month later in hospital due to head injuries, complicated by pneumonia.
He was driving along Old Moloto Road with his friend Herbert Nevhutanda on that fateful evening.
They were on their way to return a cellphone of their friend Thomas Ramapala, which he had earlier left behind in their car.
Before Magoro could turn into Taaifontein Street, Coetzer, driving a BMW, flicked his lights at him, after which he stopped.
Diedericks, who was in another car following his friend, also stopped his vehicle.
An altercation ensued betwen the two men and Magoro, during which the pair severely assaulted him, kicking him and slamming his head into the traffic sign.
Ramapala arrived on the scene and tried to separate the fighting men, but he too was assaulted and threatened by the accused with a firearm. He ran away.
An eyewitness told the court that the accused was slammed against the traffic sign with such force that his private parts had hit the pole several times.
The accused tried to defend themselves by telling the court that they had acted in self-defence.
They claimed rocks had been stacked across the road to prevent them from driving.
They claimed that when they stopped their vehicle, the victims came running out from behind bushes and tried to attack them. They said they had no choice but to defend themselves.
But Judge Eben Jordaan rejected their version and found they had acted in a common purpose with the aim of murdering Magoro and assaulting his friend.
The pair were due to be sentenced on Wednesday, but the pre-sentencing reports had not been completed.
It meanwhile emerged that the men had offered to pay compensation to the Magoro family.
Widow Ester’s brother-in-law, Robert Rasilingwani, said while social workers were compiling the pre-sentencing report, the defence counsel approached the family to offer compensation.
“They said the accused were very sorry about what happened and they were willing to pay us compensation. Each offered to pay the widow R3000 a month for five years,” Rasilingwani said.
He told the Pretoria News that he would discuss the offer with his family before making a decision whether to accept it or not.
Rasilingwani said he just wanted justice to take its course. “I hate racism, whether it’s black on white or white on black. I am an ordained priest, so as a Christian I cannot judge, nor can I change what happened. All I know is that they (the accused) must change.”
The family was disappointed that the pair were not sentenced on Wednesday. “We had to travel from Venda. Now we will have to return in May. It also opens old wounds to be here.”
Sentencing will be on May 15.