Mahikeng - The trial of two farm workers accused of killing a teenage boy in Coligny for allegedly stealing sunflowers was delayed at the North West High Court in Mahikeng on Monday.
Court proceedings had to be adjourned to enlist the services of a new Afrikaans interpreter as the initial interpreter's translations had been inadequate.
Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Phillip Schutte, 34, are facing charges of murder, intimidation, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, theft and pointing of a firearm.
The State alleges the two assaulted Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu, 16, and threw him out of a moving van, on April 20, 2017, at Rietvlei farm near Scotland informal settlement in Coligny after accusing him of stealing sunflowers from their employer's sunflower plantation.
Their employer, Pieter Karsten, is Doorewaard's uncle.
The pair claimed they put Mosweu at the back of the van to take him to the police, but he jumped off the moving van and injured his neck. He died on his way to hospital.
They alleged that after he jumped, they went to the police station about 3km away to report the incident and asked the police to call an ambulance.
But, the state further charged that the two intimidated, kidnapped and stole the cellphone of the sole witness in the case and also pointed a gun at him.
The victim was a Grade 6 learner at Haakboslaagte Primary School outside Coligny.
Mosweu's death triggered violent mass protests that left a trail of destruction in the small maize growing town and divided the community along racial lines. At least six houses and three trucks were set alight and several shops looted and damaged.
Proceedings are expected to resume later on Monday.