OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Monday
TWO of nine club rugby players charged with murdering a black teenager in South Africa were refused bail in the Pretoria High Court on Monday, while four others were granted it.
One of the remaining three accused did not apply for bail, another was granted bail earlier by the High Court and the third was refused bail by a regional court.
The nine Noordelikes Rugby Club players, all Afrikaners, were arrested on March 26 on charges of beating Tshepo Matloha, 17, to death after catching him poaching rabbits on a farm in the country’s Northern Province.
Acting Judge Martin Stegmann refused bail to 28-year-old Riaan Botha, described as the ringleader, and Benjamin Korff, 27.
Stegmann said in his judgement he was not persuaded that Botha would not leave the country if granted bail since he could make a new life elsewhere as a professional hunter, with an agricultural degree.
The judge said Korff had a significant incentive to evade the trial as the motorboat allegedly used to dispose of the body was found in his garage.
There were emotional scenes at the court on Monday while the deceased’s elder brother, Jonas, said: “I am happy that not all of them got bail … in my view they are all guilty.”
After the judgment, Stegmann adjourned the court so counsel could draw up an agreement about bail amounts and conditions.
The accused also face counts of attempted murder of Matloha’s two cousins, who were allegedly hunting illegally on the farm with Matloha.
A post mortem examination determined that Matloha had been beaten to death. He had a fractured skull and broken ribs.
One cousin was shot in the leg but managed to escape, while the other escaped uninjured.
Louis Strydom, 18, who was with the rugby players when they allegedly murdered Matloha, testified during the bail hearing that he had warned them that they would kill the youth and tried to stop them.
Strydom said he saw Botha firing shots at people while referring to them in derogatory terms.
The other charges against the men are of malicious damage to property, for the shooting of five dogs, and defeating the ends of justice – relating to the dumping of Matloha’s body in a dam almost 200km from the murder scene.
Police divers found the body, weighted down with an old metal gate, in the crocodile-infested dam a week later.
The defence lawyer for six of the accused, Ben Bredenkamp, argued last week the case had been portrayed as a racial conflict and warned that fellow detainees of a different race could be hateful towards the men.
Stegmann responded that adverse conditions detainees faced behind bars could not be a reason for granting bail.
The first hearing in the case was abandoned after demonstrators caused chaos and some 600 demonstrated at a second hearing.
The charges follow other sensational murders of blacks, including two cases in which white men were accused of tying black men to the back of pick-up trucks and dragging them to their deaths.
ZA*NOW:
Rugby player surrenders over teen murder May 16, 2000
Lawyers demand new magistrate April 24, 2000
Rugby players apply for bail April 20, 2001
Rugby murders take new twist April 16, 2001
Behind razor wire, rugby players in court April 12, 2001
Rugby killing: teenager beaten to death April 5, 2001
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
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