Coligny – The funeral service of North West teenager Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu, who died two weeks ago, started at the Scotland informal settlement in Coligny on Sunday morning.
School pupils formed a guard of honour as his coffin was wheeled into a giant white marquee pitched on an open space near his home, a few metres from a sunflower field. Mourners sang hymns.
Mosweu, generally known as Faki, died on April 20 when he allegedly jumped from a moving van driven by a local farmer. Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte alleged that they caught Mosweu and another boy stealing sunflowers in a field near the settlement.
The other boy ran away and the men allegedly loaded Mosweu into the back of a van to take him to police. However, he apparently jumped out of the van when it reduced speed and suffered serious injuries.
An eyewitness alleged he was thrown or pushed from the moving van. Mosweu's death sparked a mass protest that left a trail of destruction in Coligny. Three houses and three trucks were burnt and several shops in Voortrekker Street were looted and damaged on April 24.
Doorewaard and Schutte were arrested on April 25, after which the protests stopped.
The two men will appear in the Coligny Magistrate's Court on Monday, when they will be told whether or not they have been granted bail. Magistrate Makgaola Foso has been hearing their bail application since May 2. North West premier Supra Mahumapelo, community safety MEC Mpho Motlhabane, education MEC Sello Lehari, and the mayor of Ditsobotla municipality Daniel Buthelezi had already arrived at the funeral venue on Sunday morning. Mosweu was a grade 6 pupil at Haakboslaagte Primary School.
He was born on December 8, 2001, and was the third child of Agnes Machibidu Mosweu and Sakkie Dingake. He was identified by his father 10 days after he died.