Two ex-SAP sergeants guilty of 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka

The Pretoria high court on Tuesday found former sergeants Abraham Hercules Engelbrecht, 61, and Pieter Stander, 60, guilty of the premeditated murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka in 1987.

The court, sitting in the Johannesburg high court, acquitted a former commanding officer, Maj Leon Louis van den Berg, 75, of the charges.

On the evening of August 23 1987, the two accused, who were members of the Reaction Unit within the South African Police met to discuss a plan to kill Nyoka, a member of the Congress of South African Students.

A plan to raid his home was devised. In the early hours of August 24 1987, Stander, Engelbrecht and other members of the Reaction Unit who are also charged separately, arrived at Nyoka’s home in Daveyton and stormed his room.

“They found him sleeping with three of his friends. After identifying him, they removed the friends from the room and thereafter proceeded to shoot him nine times,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.

Nyoka died on the scene.

During the trial, the state called five witnesses including Nyoka’s two sisters, Alegria and Mothasi Nyoka and Gugulakhe Exodus Nyokane, one of the three friends Nyoka was with on the night of the murder.

After the state closed its case, two of the accused brought an application for a discharge, which the court dismissed. They then also closed their case.

“When handing down the judgment, the court found that the state was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt in respect of Engelbrecht and Stander,” Mahanjana said.

In July, another former apartheid police officer Johan Marais was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Pretoria high court for Nyoka’s murder. Marais had pleaded guilty and was convicted of premeditated murder.

The NPA welcomed the judgment.

“However, the state will study the judgment in respect of the acquittal of van den Berg. This court outcome is encouraging as this is a right step towards providing justice for the Nyoka family,” Mahanjana said.

The two accused were remanded in custody after the judgment.

The case was postponed until December 11 for the bail application pending the sentencing of Engelbrecht and Stander.

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