Accused men 'left boy to die'

A packed Coligny Magistrate's Court heard how the two men accused of murdering a 16-year-old boy reported his death to police and promptly told the charge officer they had to be somewhere else.

This and other revelations of the conduct of Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Phillip Schutte, 34, emerged on the second day of their urgent bail application.

The two men are accused of murdering Matlhomola Mosweu on April 20 - a charge that has split the small town in two.

Black community members have called Mosweu's death a race crime, while the white community has petitioned the court for Doorewaard and Schutte's release.

The two were meant to apply for bail on May 9, but returned to court sooner arguing there was not enough evidence to hold them.

The men deny murdering Mosweu, saying he fell off the back of a bakkie.

They claim he had stolen from them and they had put him on the back of their van to take him to police.

The state argued against their release and has so far relied on the evidence of investigating officer Brigadier Clifford Motame Kgorane and charge officer Jeremiah Modisane to make their case.

The accused encountered Modisane when they reported Mosweu's death to the Coligny police station , the court heard.

Modisane said the two gave him an address of where Mosweu was unconscious.

"They reported what happened but said they needed to go somewhere for another job and couldn't go to the scene with police," said Modisane.

He added that they had brought two minors to the Coligny police station for stealing maize on previous occasions.

Modisane said when he got to the scene Mosweu had blood coming from his nose and ears.

He called an ambulance, but the boy later died in hospital.

Kgorane told the court there was a witness to the crime who was in witness protection .

The witness told police that he had seen Doorewaard and Schutte push Mosweu off the bakkie.

Kgorane said the two men had threatened the witness.

"The witness said the accused asked him what he saw. They gave him alcohol and walked him to the dam at gunpoint," Kgorane told the full courtroom.

He said police would discuss adding charges of kidnapping and attempted murder to the charge sheet .

Media reports on the case also entered the fray with Hennie Du Plessis SC, who represents Doorewaard and Schutte, questioning statements made by the witness and Mosweu's father, Sakkie Dingake, in the media.

Du Plessis said the only way to corroborate the version of the witness was to look at the postmortem results.

Magistrate Makgaola Foso criticised the defen ce for demanding access to postmortem results when it had chosen to file an urgent bail application.

The case continues tomorrow.