Coligny farm workers never said sorry, 'deeply hurt' mother testifies

Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte, the two farm workers convicted of murdering a Coligny teenager, never expressed remorse to his family, the North West High Court heard on Wednesday morning.

"Neither of them ever approached me, in fact they are saying they did not kill my child. I don't know what the truth is," said Agnes Moshoeu, the mother of murdered  teenager Matlhomola Moshoeu.

Her testimony was in response to questioning by state prosecutor advocate Rapula Molefe, who asked if the two men had ever reached out to her family to express their remorse.

Moshoeu was testifying in aggravation of sentence in the trial of Doorewaard and Schutte, who were convicted in October 2018 of murdering Matlhomola. They were also found guilty of his kidnapping, intimidation, theft and pointing a firearm, after a lengthy trial.

The incident happened on April 20 2017. The 16-year-old Matlhomola was believed to have been thrown out of a moving bakkie.

The mother of six children was the third state witness to be called. Proceedings were halted on Tuesday after Moshoeu broke down in the dock.

Molefe asked Moshoeu how she felt when she was informed of her son's death.

"I was very hurt when I heard the child was killed. I'm unable to accept and be comfortable," she told the court.

She said his siblings were also "badly" affected by his death.

Moshoeu testified that the two men and their families had never reached out to them to show remorse.

"You lost your child for a sunflower, and no approach in terms of ubuntu was made by the accused to say 'sorry, we sympathise for your loss'?" Molefe asked.

"Nobody," she said.

She said she was still "deeply hurt" by their failure to reach out to the family.

During cross-examination by Cecile Zwiegelaar, acting for Doorewaard, the mother was questioned about her date of birth and that of her deceased son.

When asked how old she was, Moshoeu could not tell, despite her telling the court earlier that she was born on August 10 1974.

She could also not confirm her boy's date of birth.

Moshoeu, who completed grade 2, told the court that her husband was the one who knew all the dates.

She said Matlhomola would always inform her about his whereabouts, but on the day of the incident she did not know where her son was.

He would often visit a nearby farm to see his friends. She assumed that he had gone there.

She only found out much later that her son had died.

The hearing continues.