Farmers jailed over murder of black teenager in S Africa

A COURT in South Africa has handed jail terms of 23 and 18 years to two white farmers who murdered a black teenager they suspected of stealing sunflowers.

Pieter Doorewaard, 28, and Philip Schutte, 35, were found to have killed Matlhomola Mosweu on April 20 2017, after claiming they caught him taking a plant from a farm in the area.

Doorewaard was jailed for at least 18 years, and Schutte was sentenced to at least 23 years behind bars.

The 15-year-old died after being thrown out of a moving vehicle and suffering a broken neck, in a case that sparked rioting and looting of whiteowned businesses in the town of Coligny, to the west of Johannesburg.

The men claimed that the teenager jumped off the truck as they drove him to a police station, but Schutte was found to have thrown the boy out.

Judge Ronald Hendricks had previously also found the pair guilty of kidnapping and intimidation.

Judge Hendricks said: “You picked up the [teenager] and threw him from the van on to the ground. Your actions that day… were indeed disgraceful.”

The judge paused as his comments were translated into Afrikaans, the language often spoken by white farmers in South Africa.

He added: “It cannot be ignored that the community revolted as a result of this incident. This was largely because of the inaction of the police.”

Ahead of the sentencing, Schutte’s wife fixed his collar and kissed him in the dock.

Other family members watched on as the judge announced his ruling – as did members of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters Party which has vigorously opposed racism against the country’s black majority.

A community leader, speaking inside the court, said: “Don’t allow your husband, brother, uncle or son to indoctrinate their kids with this racism.

“It’s not all whites in Coligny who are racist – it’s a pocket.”

After the hearing, the dead boy’s father suggested the jail terms were too lenient, saying he had hoped for them to be 30 to 40 years.