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Last year, Pieter Doorewaard and Philip Schutte were sentenced to 23 years behind bars, respectively, in the North West High Court in Mahikeng.
Pieter Doorewaard and Philip Schutte appear before the Northwest Superior Court for sentencing. The couple were found guilty of killing 16-year-old Mathlomola Moshoeu in Coligny. Photo: Abigail Javier / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – The Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) on Friday found two men convicted of the 2017 murder of Coligny teenager Matlhomola Moshoeu innocent.
Last year, Pieter Doorewaard and Philip Schutte were sentenced to 18 and 23 years behind bars, respectively, in the North West High Court in Mahikeng.
Moshoeu was thrown from a moving vehicle after being accused of stealing a sunflower from a farm.
Schutte and Doorewaard were found guilty of murder, kidnapping, intimidation, and pointing a firearm.
AfriForum appealed the couple’s conviction, arguing that the state’s only witness lied under oath.
Spokeswoman Kallie Kriel said: “The SCA found that they are not guilty of any of the charges against them, but from the outside, we are not surprised by this. When the state’s only witness testified, it became clear, when the facts were examined, that he was lying. ”
He added that the group was not surprised by the ruling.
“Of course, it is a tragedy that the child died; But even if it is a tragedy, we cannot have innocent men in jail because that will not solve the tragedy that we see.
Moshoeu’s death sparked racial tensions in the small farming town with angry residents burning houses and businesses owned by white people in the area.
Kriel described the decision in the so-called sunflower case as a victory for justice and said the group felt vindicated by the ruling.
It is not yet clear whether the state will appeal this latest ruling.
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