Two Port Elizabeth riot policemen were yesterday sentenced to death for "panel beating" and then "taking out" an 18-year- old man while on duty in the townships of Cradock. Warrant Officer Leon de Villiers and Constable David Goosen were convicted of murdering Mlungisi Stuurman by taking him to a river outside Cradock and shooting him through the back of the neck.
Passing judgement, Mr Justice N Zietsman said De Villiers and Goosen had earlier assaulted Stuurman so badly that they decided he would have to be "taken out". The court had heard that after Stuurman had been given his second beating at 'Cradock's sewerage works – the first took place in the unit's vehicle – De Villiers said he had been so badly panel beaten" he would have to be "taken out '. Justice Zietsman ruled there were no extenuating circumstances which left him no choice but to impose the death sentence. He refused both men leave to appeal.
Defence counsel, Advocate C Jansen SC, had earlier argued that in De Villiers' case, drink coupled with his below average IQ should be considered as extenuating circumstances. Justice Zietsman rejected this and the defence argument that both men faced violence and death daily and did not see these things as others did. He said Goosen played an active part in deciding to kill Stuurman after he had been assaulted and could not claim De Villiers had influenced him.
Reviewing evidence presented during the trial, Justice Zietsman said Goosen and De Villiers, both members of the Port Elizabeth unrest squad, had been sent to Cradock to monitor the funeral of an ANC member held on the July 26 1986. The unit under De Villiers' control, arrived in Cradock the night before the funeral. They began drinking liquor they had confiscated in shebeens in PE's townshipsand by midnight all, except Goosen who did not drink, were drunk. Later they heard a radio report of stone throwing in the township and De Villiers decided to send his men in to "curb unrest". De Villiers, who admitted in court that he was drunk at that stage, decided it would be easier to catch the stone throwers patrolling on foot.
The judge said De Villiers had ordered his unit to take "moering tools" into the township. He said the state had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Goosen had stabbed a person during the operation. The state, however, was unable to prove that the man he stabbed was in fact killed. Both men were therefore acquitted on one of the murder counts and two charges of assault Justice Zietsman said the unit had entered the township again the next day and continued their "unlawful" acts. They had arrested a number of innocent people including Mlungisi Stuurman, 18, who was sitting in the yard of his father's house.
Goosen and De Villiers admitted assaulting Stuurman and saying he needed to be "taken out" but said they meant he should be taken out of the township to have his face washed. After taking Stuurman to a river Goosen and two others tookhim to the water edge where he was shot through the back of his neck. Goosen had told the court the gun had gone off by accident after he was overcome by "a nameless fear". His defence called a psychiatrist in support of this, who said Goose" suffered from "Vietnam syndrome" after being involved in a shoot-out with an African National Congress member.
Justice Zietsman dismissed this. He said he was surprised Goosen claimed to have a flashback during the morning and not the previous night, when the situation more closely resembled a shoot-out. He said the two men had attempted to hide their crime by making up the accident story. He convicted them of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and sentenced them to six months suspended for three years.
Both men's bail of R5 000, granted earlier in the trial, was extended. They stood impassively in the dock as sentence was passed but their wives began sobbing hysterically. A number of court orderlies also began crying and relatives and fellow policemen embraced them as they were led away. Before sentence, Jansen argued that the two convicted men sincerely regretted assaulting Stuurman and allowing others to assault him. They conceded that the assaults had ultimately caused Stuurman's death. For nearly two years they had woken every day with a "sword" hanging over them and this had severely influenced their lives and those of their wives. He said De Villiers had lost a lot of weight and his wife's hair had turned completely grey during the trial.
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
