CAPE TOWN - SELF-confessed occult member Daniel Smit, accused of killing and mutilating the body of Jerobejin van Wyk, 13, for stealing mangoes has yet to make a formal confession.
The family and community in the sleepy town of Klawer are still waiting for the DNA test results to determine the identity of the human body parts found on Smit’s property.
Although Smit’s lawyer, Santie Human, revealed that Smit told her that this was an occult killing, legal experts weighed in on the so-called confession.
They warned that Human's actions were not procedural and may compromise the case.
But Human said her client advised her to explain his actions because he wanted to clear his conscience. He wanted to “save the quiet town from burning” because the town’s folk were on tenterhooks and the situation was volatile because they believed the crime was fuelled by racism.
She said: “Reports suggested that he was a farmer because of the word ‘boer’, but here a boer is a white man, and he also didn’t want it to turn into a racial issue. So he came out with the truth, that he belonged to an occult (group) and it drove him to do what he did.”
Smit appeared in the Klawer Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of murder, kidnapping, and assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm in connection with the Jerobejin killing, and defeating the ends of justice.
Jerobejin and his friend had gone to Smit’s house to pick mangoes when they were caught.
Smit then chased after the boys in his bakkie and allegedly ran over Jerobejin before putting him in the bakkie and driving away while his friend hid in a bin.
At Smit’s first court appearance Human informed the media that her client had made a confession and also opened up about being part of an occult group.
A legal source close to the case explained to the Weekend Argus that this could be a ploy that could jeopardise the case. “No formal confession was made. For a confession to stand in court, it has to be made in front of a magistrate or a commissioned officer.
“Secondly, when he appeared in court and his rights were read out to him, he didn’t plead, he decided to remain silent.
“Thirdly, there’s the rule of privilege between a client and his or her lawyer. This means that things that are said to the lawyer are said in confidence,” the source said.
The source added “In layman’s terms, it means that Smit could at any stage turn around and say he wants to go for observation because he didn’t know what he was doing and that he wasn’t treated fairly in a trial because of all the things already put out there.
“The accused should be treated as innocent until a competent court finds him guilty.”
The source said the case would most likely be transferred to the High Court.
“Here the judge will only consider the law, so even if it was an occult murder, the law will be above it. The factor of the occult will only be taken into consideration as an aggravating circumstance.
“In my opinion, it will make the sentence harsher, but until then there is nothing concrete that speaks of an occult, and therefore I believe it’s purely racial.”
Advocate Gilbert Jose agreed that it was unusual for a lawyer to divulge so much information so prematurely.
“By law you are not even supposed to do it, you are supposed to keep your client’s information close to your chest because at the end of the day your client can turn around and say he didn’t say anything like that, and that will impact his position as to a fair trial.
“There could be the possibility of an acquittal,” Jose said.
But Human is adamant her client wanted to diffuse the volatile situation in the town by revealing his link to the occult.
“Daniel joined the occult. He didn’t say whether it was a satanic cult. When he was 19, an occult group from Sea Point showed him how to kill with very little blood spilt and to incinerate the body and to throw any remains in the sea,” she said.
Human added that Smit stayed in the occult group until he married.
“When he married his wife, who is a firm believer in Christ, he changed. He started to show a keen interest in God and learnt Hebrew, the writing in front of his house is Hebrew for God.
“He then lost his way again when his wife left, but got better. This attack was the first one after a very long time, he basically relapsed and that's why he asked to see a spiritual leader because he has spiritual problems. He wants to be delivered from evil,” she said.
When asked about her reasons on defending Smit, she said “I believe in God, but everyone has a constitutional right to a lawyer, that is why I am doing it.
“It doesn’t mean that if I’m defending a rapist, a murderer that I am one too, I am just following instruction,” she said.
Human said it was on instruction that she also received from Smit that she explain his reasons for the crime.
“He’s not trying to get out of it, he just wants to make it more understandable. He wants people to know that it's not racism and also wants to clear his conscious.
“He confessed to me about the occult, and also mentioned that it no longer exists because the last member of that occult died in 2009.
“But, he wasn't going to let the town burn down and that is why he chose to tell them why he did it, he saved the town by doing so,” she said.
Human also added that her client intended on pleading guilty in the case.
Human has since approached spiritual leader Jan Oosthuizen after Smit had asked her to get an exorcist.
Oosthuizen, who has been a pastor for 30 years, told Weekend Argus that Human and he belonged to the same congregation.
“I was asked to speak to him and evaluate him on a spiritual level, and that’s it. The notion that I’m a demon driver or exorcist is absolutely not that at all.
“My interest is helping the family and community find answers because they are traumatised … I am here for the peace-making,” he said .Oosthuizen said justice must take it course. “I’ve seen people who are demonic, and I also believe that this is more psychological than spiritual. You have to be really cold-hearted to kill a child the way he did.“Even if the devil made him do it, the law should take its course,” he said.