Officer acquitted of shooting dead farmworker

Published Jul 28, 2014

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Francesca Villette

THE constable accused of murdering a man and trying to kill four others during the farmworkers’ strike in Wolseley almost two years ago has been acquitted and discharged.

It was not known who fired the bullet that claimed Michael Daniels’s life, said regional magistrate Annemarie Immelman. She found there was not enough evidence to convict Constable John Geldenhuys.

She was referring to evidence that another policeman had also fired at the protesters.

That Geldenhuys had been acting in self-defence could not be overlooked, she said.

“We have to keep in mind that it was not only the accused who fired using live ammunition.

“It is unknown where the bullet that killed Daniels came from – the autopsy is unable to reveal this. The court has no choice but to grant the application and free the accused.”

Daniels died moments after being wounded in the chest. Jerome Visser, Jonathan Malgas, Henrico Williams and Sello Mosalo were wounded during the protest on November 14, 2012.

Geldenhuys had pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and four of attempted murder, but admitted using live ammunition.

His lawyer, Ranjan Raga, argued that he had fired in self-defence. In applying on Friday for Geldenhuys to be acquitted, Jaga said the State had failed to present a prima facie case.

It had not called Visser to give evidence. “Only one of the bullets could be traced to Geldenhuys’s firearm.”

Jaga said another policeman fired 15 rounds of live ammunition.

“Henrico Williams and Jonathan Malgas could not say who shot them. It could’ve been another policeman who wounded them. The State’s case is so weak, the court cannot accept witness evidence that they did not throw stones at the scene. It was very convenient for the witnesses to have distanced themselves from the chaos that took place on that day. Despite Visser being present at court every day, he is not being called to testify.”

During cross-examination last week, Mosalo agreed with the defence that police had been boxed in by two groups of protesters and that police had no alternative but to open fire if they wished to protect themselves. The State then argued that although the police had been outnumbered by protesters, there was no evidence that Geldenhuys’s life had been in danger.

Commenting later, Nosey Pieterse, general secretary of the Bawsi Agricultural Workers Union of SA (Bawusa), said: “It is like no one has murdered Daniels.”

The union would call on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a non-judicial commission to probe actions against farmworkers.

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