No arrangements with Coligny farmers to arrest suspects, court hears

Coligny murder accused Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte appeared at the North West High Court in Mahikeng. The two are accused of the murder Matlhamola Jonas Mosweu in Coligny on 20 April, 2017. Picture: Molaole Montsho/ANA

Coligny murder accused Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte appeared at the North West High Court in Mahikeng. The two are accused of the murder Matlhamola Jonas Mosweu in Coligny on 20 April, 2017. Picture: Molaole Montsho/ANA

Published Mar 22, 2018

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Mahikeng - There are no arrangements between farmers and the police in Coligny for the farm owners to bring suspects to the police station, the North West High Court heard on Thursday.

Answering a question from advocate Rapula Molefe, Warrant Officer Moremi Modisane told the court that there was never any arrangement made for farmers to bring people suspected of stealing from farms to the police station.

The revelation was made in a trial in which the state alleges that Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Phillip Schutte, 34, assaulted teenager Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu and throw him out of a moving van, on 20 April 2017 at Rietvlei farm, near Coligny. 

The pair had accused the 16-year-old boy, who later died of a neck injury, of stealing a sunflower head from their employer Pieter Karsten's plantation.

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The State further alleges that the pair kidnapped a man who witness the incident and forcefully drove with him around the farm. They allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill him if he report the incident. It is further alleged that the accused pair also stole the man's cellphone and pointed a firearm at him.

In his plea explanation Doorewaard stated there was an arrangement with the police that farmers should bring suspects to them.

Modisane told the court that the pair - Doorewaard and Schutte - had previously brought two under aged boys to the police station for allegedly stealing a mielie cob. They even brought the mielie cob as evidence, recalled Modisane.

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He said personally, he did not have problem with suspects being brought to the police station by victims.

Cross examining the witness, Advocate Hennie du Plessis for Doorewaard put to Modisane that the accused two had in 2017 -  prior to April - taken suspects to the police station in Coligny, where four cases of theft were opened.

"All these cases were of theft, where the suspects were caught stealing crops from the accused's employer. In all of the four cases none of the suspects jumped out of the bakkie," Du Plessis said.

However, Modisane told the court that he was not aware of the four cases that Du Plessis mentioned.

Doorewaard and Schutte face charges of murder, intimidation, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, theft and pointing of a firearm. The both plead not guilty.

The trial continues.

African News Agency/ANA

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