Coligny, North West

Originally named Treurfontein (Afrikaans: spring of sadness), it was renamed Coligny when it became a town on 23 July 1923, after Gaspard de Coligny, a Huguenot leader who died in the Massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572.[2] Coligny was the scene of sporadic diamond mining activities.

On 25 April 2017, Coligny and nearby Lichtenburg were the scenes of extensive racial rioting following the death of Matlhomola (meaning: 'sorrow') Jonas 'Faki' Moshoeu / Mosweu (15) of the Scotland informal settlement in Tlhabologang, who supposedly died at the hands of two white farm managers[5] at Rietvlei farm. The violent protests, looting and petrol bombing[6] resulted in the destruction of property and local businesses predominantly owned by whites, foreigners and other minorities.[7] Rian Malan, in an investigation into the causes of the rioting, stated that the riots were further incited at Moshoeu's funeral by representatives of the SADTU and SANCO trade unions who were loyal to President Jacob Zuma.[7] A town resident stated that the protesters who torched her house were not locals.[6]

On 20 April 2017, the two Afrikaner men, Doorewaard and Schutte, came across Moshoeu and a second boy who were carrying 5 stolen sunflower heads. The boys ran away, abandoning the sunflower heads. Moshoeu was arrested and asked to take a seat on the back of the pickup truck. En route to the Coligny police station and 3 km from town,[8] as the two men alleged, they were slowing down to 60 km/h at a turn in the road, when Moshoeu disappeared from the load body of the vehicle, and was assumed to have jumped off. Turning back, Moshoeu was found lying on the road, critically injured. A passer by was asked to look over him, as the two men proceeded to the police station where an ambulance was summoned.[9] Moshoeu died of his injuries on his way to hospital in Lichtenburg.[10]

The version of events supplied by the only state witness, Mr Bonakele/Sibongile Pakisi, was entirely different. He stated that Moshoeu was assaulted and mishandled before he was thrown from the back of the vehicle (either once or thrice, and at a different location) by one of the men, Mr Schutte. The injured Moshoeu would then have been placed back into the vehicle, upon which the presence of Mr Pakisi would have been noticed. Pakisi was allegedly assaulted repeatedly and subjected to a lengthy ordeal, during which he was forced to drink spirits, including beer he had with him, before he was shot at and supposedly beaten over the head and left for dead. When Mr Pakisi arrived at the police station to report the matter, he was deemed drunk and crazy, and was sent away. Pakisi never sought medical attention for his supposed injuries.[9]

On 24 April 2017 it was decided to charge the farm managers with murder. They handed themselves over to police on the 25th, and were charged and requested to hand over the pickup truck involved in the incident.[9] They appeared before a magistrate court on 28 April 2017. Mattheus van Loggerenberg, the magistrate and resident of Coligny who was presiding over the case, noted that it was in the interest of justice that he recused himself from the case, citing that he feared for his life and that of his family.[11] The case was postponed to 9 May 2017 for a formal bail application. Further incidences of violence ensued after the two co-accused were released on bail – a farmhouse was torched, a photographer was attacked and a confrontation erupted between the protesters and farmers.[8] Judge Ronald Hendricks of the High Court in Mahikeng[12] sentenced the two men, Doorewaard and Schutte, to 18 and 23 years respectively, after the testimony of the state witness, Mr Pakisi, was accepted.[9]

On appeal however, the testimony of Mr Pakisi was rejected. At the places where Pakisi claimed he was shot at, no cartridge casings were found, and his timeline of events could not be reconciled with known times. In the bungled investigation, no blood stains or samples were found or collected in either the vehicle, any place Moshoeu was supposedly assaulted, or on the jersey which Pakisi supposedly used to wipe away Moshoeu's blood. It was found that the State did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, and Doorewaard and Schutte were acquitted on all charges[13] after spending 13 months in jail. AfriForum funded the appeal costs, and its private prosecution unit provided support in the case investigation.[14] In 2019 the Moshoeu family was donated a new house in Gerdoren Park, Coligny, by Gift of the Givers, on land donated by the Ditsobotla Local Municipality.[10]