Own Correspondent, Pietersburg | Thursday
THE teenager allegedly killed on a Dendron farm by a group of Northern Province rugby players, and later dumped in a dam almost 200km away, was beaten to death and not shot as was earlier believed.
Police said the post mortem on Tshepo Matloga showed he died of a fractured skull and broken ribs, believed to have been inflicted during an assault. There were no signs of bullet wounds on the body, although a number of cartridges were found at the scene where the body was originally found.
This week the president of the Noordelikes Rugby Union, of which the suspected killers were members, condemned the incident, and stressed that the get-together which preceded the killing was not a team-building exercise.
“This was not a team event, but merely a get together of friends, four of whom were first team players and five belonged to our second team,” said Noordelikes president Joey Graaff, who said he was distressed by a call by Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour to refuse to honour any scheduled matches against the Noordelikes Rugby Club.
“We are not racists, and in fact have a number of black players and are heavily involved in sport development in black communities,” Graaff said.
Police are to implement a disciplinary hearing against the inspector who allegedly left Matloga’s body unattended, enabling one of the alleged killers to load the body in a bakkie and dump it in the Arabie Dam.
The body, which had been tied to a pole, finally floated to the surface on Monday after divers had been unable to find it.
Matloga and two cousins Alex, 17 and Melford Motlokwane, 21 were hunting rabbits when the incident happened on March 25. Alex Motlokwane was shot in the leg, but managed to escape, while Melford got away uninjured.
Nine members of the Noordelikes Rugby Club will appear in the Pietersburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday in connection with the murder.
The accused are Riaan Botha, 28, the son of the farm owner; a lieutenant in the SA National Defence Force in Pietersburg, Kobus Joubert, 34; Francois Viljoen, 19, Mike Adendorf, 24, Johan van Ravenstein, 28, Corne Kloppers, 22, Willem Boshoff, 27, Jaco Hartslief, 27, and Ben Korff, 26.
Ravenstein is the chairman of the club, Hartslief is match secretary, and Korff and Joubert are additional members of the executive.
ZA*NOW:
Divers find body in croc-infested dam April 2, 2001
Crocs hinder search for body March 29, 2001
Rugby thugs arrested for shooting teen March 28, 2001