Lawyer fights for lenient sentences

A lawyer representing Theo Martins Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen, the two men who assaulted farmworker Victor Mlotshwa before shoving him into a coffin, said yesterday his clients were worried about their upcoming sentencing proceedings.

“Our clients are apprehensive about what might happen on the day of sentencing and we are busy compiling an affidavit for mitigation of sentences,” said attorney Marius Coertze.

Jackson and Oosthuizen were found guilty on six of seven charges in the High Court in Middelburg in Mpumalanga on August 25. The charges include attempted murder and the assault of another farmworker, Dalton Sithole.

The two men are expected to be sentenced on October 23 in the same court.

Coertze said he and his team would continue representing Jackson and Oosthuizen free of charge.

He said they would put it to the court when presenting their arguments in mitigation of sentence that long sentences would have a bad effect on the personal circumstances of their clients and their families.

“We expected [Jackson and Oosthuizen] to be found not guilty on some of the charges they faced. We will also put it to the court that the injuries sustained by the complainants [Mlotshwa and Sithole during the assaults] were not corroborated by any medical report.

“We hope our mitigation will work and get light sentences for them.”

Coertze said last month that Jackson and Oosthuizen had racked up legal fees of about R200 000 since the start of their trial on August 31.

The bill would soon be R250 000 but his clients could not pay a cent of it, he added.

Jackson and Oosthuizen were arrested last year after a video showing them shoving Mlotshwa into a coffin went viral.

Commenting on the judgment last month, Mlotshwa said he wanted 15-year jail sentences for both Jackson and Oosthuizen. – ANA

Our clients are apprehensive about what might happen on the day of sentencing and we are busy compiling an affidavit for mitigation of sentence.

Marius Coertze Attorney