AfriForum welcomes Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte’s special leave to appeal directly to the Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein. The pair from Coligny can now appeal their conviction by the High Court in Mmabatho of the murder of the teenager Matlhomola Moshoeu. This follows Doorewaard and Schutte’s legal team – lead by Adv. Barry Roux – successfully petitioning the Court of Appeals to appeal their conviction after the High Court in Mmabatho refused them leave to appeal.
AfriForum decided to fund Doorewaard and Schutte’s appeal application after Bonakele Pakisi, the only eyewitness in the murder case, confessed to four different people that he had lied to the court. Hy testified that he saw Doorewaard and Schutte murdering the teenager.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, his organisation is grateful that the two men will now have the opportunity to prove that the High Court in Mmabatho erred by ignoring key evidence of their innocence and relying on the story of a liar as only eyewitness.
Kriel also says that AfriForum will fund the rest of the two men’s appeal process to ensure that justice prevails and to prevent innocent people from ending up in jail wrongfully. “I am confident that the two men’s conviction of murder will be set aside based on the available evidence.”
Kriel says that it is important to hold people accountable who spread lies to create racial tension and a false cloud of “racism” around innocent people.
“Just like the lives of Doorewaard and Schutte were destroyed, we also saw how racial agitators turned the life of the competent teacher Elana Barkhuizen on its head through their lies and misrepresentations. The time has come for the destructive work of liars and racial agitators to be opposed,” he concludes.