Two accomplices of jailed apartheid-era hitman Ferdi Barnard walked free on Monday after the Johannesburg Regional Court acquitted them on 11 charges including murder.
Former police detective Gert Marais and a former undercover police operative, Johannes ”Derrick” Botes were accused of being involved in the death of Karel Van Staden, a former mine detective at Riebeeck Lake in Randfontein on December 22 1995.
They also faced a number of other charges relating to the disappearance of the inquest documentation. Van Staden was killed after he turned up uninvited and drunk at a braai being held by Marais, Botes and Randburg businessman Dawie Lotter.
He died after being hit over the head with a bottle full of water and falling against the braai area.
The inquest found a certain ”JJ” criminally liable for the death, but during the trial evidence was that no such person as ”JJ” existed on the population register or any other documents and that the person was apparently a fabrication.
Lotter, who turned state witness and testified, confirmed this during the trial. He said that only he, Marais and Botes had been present and that there had been no fourth person. In his judgment on Monday, regional magistrate Steff Bezuidenhout found Lotter had not been a credible witness, having given contradictory evidence and having admitted that his first statement was a sheer fabrication.
The judgment also stated that there was no evidence linking Marais and Botes to the disappearance of the inquest docket and case file relating to Van Staden’s death.
The court still has to rule on whether or not Lotter will receive indemnity from prosecution or will be prosecuted for Van Staden’s death.
Barnard, a former member of the Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB), is serving a lengthy jail sentence for the murder of human rights activist Dr David Webster.
The CCB was an apartheid-era structure which carried out undercover operations including murder of political activists. – Sapa