It's Like A Knife To The Heart

Two men were convicted of killing their son – now they’ve been acquitted

- Lesego Mkhize

‘WHY couldn’t it have been me? Why did my son have to die? He was so young and he had such a promising future ahead of him.”

These are the words of Sakkie Dingake (47), the grieving father of 16-year-old Matlhomola Moshoeu who died in Coligny, North West, in 2017 after being caught stealing sunflower heads worth around R60 from a farm in the area.

Sakkie’s wounds were reopened recently when Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte, the two farmers previously convicted of killing Matlhomola, were acquitted on appeal. The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the guilty verdict and their jail sentences – 18 years for Doorewaard and 23 years for Schutte – are now null and void.

“I was at home when I heard what had happened,” Sakkie tells YOU. “I was watching the evening news when I found out that the men convicted of killing our son were now free.”

For Sakkie and his wife, Agness Moshoeu (46), the acquittal has brought back the pain of losing their son.

“Pieter and Phillip can just get on with their lives as if nothing happened,” Sakkie says. “They can have Christmas with their families. But our son is gone.

“We feel like the justice system has failed us. We have no closure now.”

Agness also wasn’t expecting the acquittal. “I was on my way home from town when I received a call from a shocked relative asking me if I’d heard the news. I was so shocked. It felt like the day we lost Matlhomola all over again.”

Basically, she adds, the law is saying “our beloved son killed himself ”.