Mahikeng - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members were picketing outside the North West High Court in Mahikeng on Wednesday ahead of the appearance of two men convicted of killing Coligny teenager Matlhomola Mosweu.
"We want a life sentence nothing else, we are going to sleep outside the North West High Court until the two white murderers have been sentenced to life imprisonment," said Dintwe Mekgwe, the EFF's regional secretary in Ngaka Modiri Molema.
He said they slept outside the court on Tuesday night. Mekgwe said the group, brandishing placards with the words "No reconciliation without justice", would not leave until justice was done.
"We are not going anywhere, even if the case can be postponed to next year, we will build shacks here."
On Monday the group caused chaos in the courtroom when they confronted journalist Susan Celliers while she was taking pictures. They did not want her to photograph them, stating that she was white and should rather photograph white people seated behind them.
Sentencing proceedings against convicted murderers Pieter Doorewaard, 27, and Phillip Schutte, 34, were set to continue in court on Wednesday.
The pair was found guilty of killing Matlhomola Mosweu, 16, of Scotland informal settlement in Coligny on April 20, 2017, by pushing him from a moving van after they caught him stealing sunflower heads at their employer Pieter Karsten's field at Rietvlei farm.
They were also found guilty of kidnapping, intimidation, theft and pointing of a firearm.
Karsten is Doorewaard's uncle and had employed the two.
Court proceedings were halted on Tuesday when Mosweu's mother Agnes Mosweu broke down during her testimony. She wept after prosecutor Rapula Molefe asked her how the death of her son had affected her.
"I was not feeling well. I am still not feeling well now," the soft-spoken Mosweu replied. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Court adjourned to give her time to regain her composure. She was expected to continue with her testimony on Wednesday.
In her brief testimony, Mosweu told the court it was not worth it for her son to be killed for a sunflower worth R80.
African News Agency/ANA