Guilty of aiding a murder

A CAPE TOWN family has welcomed the guilty verdict in the case against 21-year-old Jevon Snyman, convicted yesterday by the Western Cape High Court of the 2013 murder of matric pupil Glenrico Martin.

The court found Snyman had acted with common purpose when, together with Wilston Stoffels, he went to Spes Bona Secondary School in Athlone with the intention of killing 18-year-old Martin.

Stoffels is currently serving a 24-year sentence for the May 2013 shooting after entering a plea bargain with the State.

He admitted to pulling the trigger of the gun which killed the Manenberg teenager.

Glenrico’s father, Michael Martin, said he hoped Snyman would receive a similar sentence. He said his son had not been a gangster, but was friends with gangsters because the area where they lived, Manenberg, was tightly controlled by gangs.

Glenrico Martin’s mother, Henrietta, said he was “a very friendly child who communicated with everyone”.

She recalled the shock she felt when told her son had been shot dead on the school’s premises. She said the pain she felt on the day still “remains very fresh”.

Judge Lister Nuku found Snyman not guilty of contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, but found that evidence established Snyman belonged to the G-Unit gang – an affiliate of the Americans gang, and the victim was a Hard Livings member.

The judge said evidence indicated that Martin had previously fired a shot at a G-Unit member and was murdered in a revenge attack.

Snyman was found guilty of murder based on the principle of common purpose. He was also found guilty of the illegal possession of a firearm.

Judge Nuku accepted the evidence of State witness Keenan Slinger, a former Spes Bona pupil who testified he had seen Snyman hand Stoffels a gun just before the shooting.

Slinger testified that when the taxi transporting his friend and Glenrico Martin arrived at school, he had walked towards the taxi. When he glanced back at Snyman and Stoffels, he had witnessed Snyman hand a gun to Stoffels, and moments later a shot was fired and children started screaming.

Martin was shot once in the head and died at Groote Schuur Hospital a few hours later.

Slinger testified that Snyman, who was not a Spes Bona pupil, had been wearing the school uniform. Despite being labelled a “self-confessed liar” by the defence, the judge said that Slinger’s account “was honest enough and didn’t exaggerate evidence”.

Defence lawyer Mohamed Sibda asked the court that the probation officer’s report be completed before sentencing.

Snyman opted not to testify during his trial and had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.