/ 27 November 2006

Waterkloof Four case postponed to next year

The Waterkloof Four will have to wait until next year to find out what their punishment will be.

On Monday their case in the Pretoria Regional Court was postponed yet again and argument for mitigation of their sentence will now only be heard from January 15 2007.

Christoff Bekker, Frikkie du Preez, Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt — four white men — were found guilty last year of the murder of an unidentified black man and for assaulting another.

Because the four were minors when the crimes were committed in 2001 the court on Monday received a report from social workers on the four. These reports were not officially handed in as evidence and were thus not made public.

The defence team has indicated that it will obtain its own expert witnesses for argument in mitigation of sentence.

Magistrate Len Kotze said he hoped the case would be completed in January. — Sapa