MAHIKENG - Murder accused Phillip Schutte - one of the two farm workers accused of killing Coligny teenager Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu after they allegedly caught him stealing sunflower- on Wednesday told the North West High Court that he did not see the injuries suffered by the 16-year-old when he "fell" from the back of their truck.
Schutte and Pieter Doorewaard are on trial for Mosweu's murder. A witness has testified that he saw Mosweu being thrown out of the back of a truck several times on that fateful day.
"Did you specifically you Mr. Schutte, notice how he was injured?" prosecutor Moeketsi Moeketsi asked Schutte.
"I did not see him," replied the accused.
"You did not have regard that he was injured?" Moeketsi asked.
"It is not true, I had regard," protested Schutte, who told the court that he saw movement in the dust through the left mirror of their van and when he looked at the loading base, the boy was not there. He concluded that he had jumped.
He said they made a U-turn and stopped next to the boy. Schutte said his co-accused, Pieter Doorewaard, who was driving got out of the truck to check on the boy.
"Pieter [Doorewaard] told me the boy was injured and asked if I do have telephone numbers for emergency medical service, we both search our cellphone and did not have them," Schutte recalled.
"Was the boy seriously injured?" asked the prosecutor, Moeketsi.
Shutte responded: "According to me he was, he lay on the ground after jumping and Pieter said he was bleeding through the mouth, I took it he was seriously injured".
The state alleges Schutte and Doorewaard assaulted Mosweu and threw him out of a moving van on 20 April 2017 in the vicinity of Rietvlei farm, near Coligny. The pair had earlier accused the schoolboy of stealing sunflower from their employer Pieter Karsten's sunflower plantation. Karsten is Doorewaard's uncle.
The pair claim Mosweu jumped out of the moving van.
Specialist forensic pathologist Dr. Ruweida Moorad had testified that 23 different injuries were found on the body of Coligny teenager. She described the injuries as being severe. Mosweu's right eye was swollen and he had injuries to his face.
Moorad said the injuries were consistent with a fall or a jump from a moving vehicle. The absence of injuries on Mosweu's hands indicates he did not try to protect himself when he hit the ground - something she said led her to believe he was pushed.