The investigating officer in the Coka brothers' murder case has told the Piet Retief magistrate's court that another double murder happened at the same farm where the siblings were killed.
W/O Vukile Nhlapho continued with her testimony in the bail application of the five accused yesterday, saying the other murders were committed at the farm Bampoen in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, in August.
The officer said three victims were allegedly beaten up, leading to the death of two of them. The other one played dead and lived to tell the tale. “I want this court to know that there’s blood in that farm and it needs justice,” said Nhlapho.
The four farmers – Daniel Malan, 38, Cornelius Greyling, 26, Othard Clingberg, 58, and Michael Sternberg, 31 – were arrested on April 9 and have been in custody since then, while Zenzele Patrick Yende, 48, was nabbed on April 15.
They are each facing two murder charges, as well as charges of kidnapping, assault, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The Coka brothers, Zenzele, 40, and Mgcini, 36, were killed on April 9, while apparently trying to stop a fight between the farmers and job seekers.
Last week, Nhlapo told the court that Yende and Clingberg have been implicated in last year's double murder. Yesterday, he said he could not go into further details because it was a sensitive case and was under investigation.
Monica Nyuswa, provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, told Sowetan that the August murder case has been sent to the national director of public prosecutions for a decision on whether to prosecute.
Lawyers representing the accused brought footage to court on Monday showing the start of the incident that led to the fatal shooting of the Coka brothers.
However, Nhlapho told the court yesterday that the footage did not show the whole incident where the farmers allegedly armed themselves with rifles and donned bulletproof vests.
The defence team told the court that only Malan wore a bulletproof vest and that Clingberg shot Mgcini in self-defence.
“My client said that he acted in self-defence after seeing deceased one [Mgcini] holding a firearm [and] shooting towards the direction of Malan and [a man known only as] Malman, and also in the direction of his own son.
“Therefore, that’s when he issued a firearm and acted in self-defence. The question of common purpose can be argued against self-defence by the trial court,” said Clingberg’s lawyer, who cannot be named because of a court order prohibiting publishing of the names of members of the defence team or their photos.
But state prosecutor advocate Robert Molokoane submitted that Mgcini was not armed. “On the matter of saying deceased one [Mgcini] was holding a gun and shooting, it’s not true. How come he was shot in the back?” asked Molokoane.
In closing arguments, Molokoane maintained that the accused acted in common purpose to murder the Coka brothers.
Community members came out in numbers and protested outside court. No violence was reported yesterday.
Magistrate Moses Fankomo reserved judgment on bail until tomorrow.
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