'No blood found in vehicle used in alleged murder of Coligny teen'

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. FILE PHOTO: 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. FILE PHOTO: Molaole Montsho/ANA

Published Mar 27, 2018

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MAHIKENG - No blood trace was detected in a van allegedly used in the murder of Coligny teenage boy Matlhomola Mosweu, the North West High Court heard on Tuesday.

Police Brigadier Clifford Kgorane testified that he requested Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and  Phillip Schutte, 34, to hand over the vehicle they allegedly used, so that it could be examined by an expert for possible traces of blood.

"No blood was detected," he replied during cross examination by defence lawyer Hennie du Plessis for Doorewaard.

The State alleges Doorewaard and Schutte assaulted Mosweu and threw him out of a moving van on April 20, 2017, at Rietvlei farm near Coligny, after accusing him of stealing sunflower heads from their employer Pieter Karsten's sunflower plantation.

The state further alleges that the pair kidnapped a man who reportedly witnessed the incident and forcefully drove with around with him on a farm, assaulting and threatening to kill him if he reported the incident. They also allegedly stole his cellphone and pointed him with a firearm.

ALSO READ: Court visits Coligny teen 'sunflower' murder scene

The pair pleaded not guilty to the seven charges leveled against them.

Kgorane told the court an expert tested the van for possible blood stains on the load base of the van.

On Monday, the North High Court revisited the scene where Mosweu was allegedly killed.

Bonakele Pakisi, who witnessed the incident, pointed out the scene to Judge Ronald Hendricks. 

Pakisi said he saw the two men dumping Mosweu's body and when they realised he had seen them, they picked up the deceased, loaded him into the back of the van and also confronted him, asking if he had seen what happened.

He replied that he did not see anything and they put him at the load base of the van and drove around with him, before threatened him. 

They drove to a dam where they pointed him with a firearm, made him to drink alcohol and ordered him to run in front of a moving bakkie, while at the same time firing shots around him.

He testified that he vomited and collapsed. The two left him near a dam, not too far Scotland informal settlement, while according to him, all this time Mosweu was lying, bleeding at the load base of the van.

Mosweu's death, known as the "sonneblom (sunflower) murder", triggered violent community protests that left a trail of destruction in the small maize-growing town and divided the community along race lines. 

Six houses and three trucks were torched, while several shops were looted and damaged.

The trial continues.

African News Agency/ANA

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