Coligny teen 'killed' for R60 worth of sunflower heads

A Coligny teenager was allegedly killed for about R60 worth of sunflower heads‚ the North West High Court heard on Thursday.

Phillip Schutte‚ the man accused of throwing Matlhomola Mosweu from a moving bakkie‚ said the boy had five or six sunflower heads in his hands when he and his co-accused apprehended him.

Schutte said this after Judge Ronald Hendricks asked him how many sunflower heads the teen had.

Schutte told the court that Mosweu and his friends had dropped the allegedly stolen sunflower heads and run away after realising that he and co-accused Pieter Doorewaard had seen them.

He said Doorewaard‚ however‚ had stopped them in their tracks and loaded them into the bakkie the two were travelling in.

“Would you pay a lot of money for those sunflower heads?” Judge Hendricks asked. “If I can estimate‚ it’s approximately R50 or R60‚” Schutte replied.

Schutte and Doorewaard are accused of killing Mosweu by throwing him out of a moving bakkie in April 20 last year.

The case was postponed to September 25 to allow counsel to prepare for arguments. Their R5‚000 bail was extended.

Schutte told the court on Wednesday that he had not noticed any injuries on Mosweu after the teen was allegedly pushed off the bakkie. All he wanted to do was to go to the police station and report the incident as Mosweu was lying motionless on the ground.

“It’s not logical to take a seriously injured person and transport them to the hospital‚” Schutte said.

“I was afraid and did not have medical experience. I did not want to touch him because I could have made it worse.”

– SowetanLIVE