Africa-Press – South-Africa. A group of people, who attended the case of a man accused of killing Anthony Thembinkosi Thabethe, hurled insults at an acting judge after he acquitted the accused on Friday.
The group first clapped and then insulted acting Judge Kobus Burger of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. “Congratulations to the judge. You did sh*t,” they shouted.
Some even shouted insults from outside the courtroom. Their emotional reaction came against earlier warnings by Burger, who said they should “behave”.
Before the acting judge could deliver the final part of his judgment, he said: “There must be no disruptions. The court will deem that contempt of court.”
He warned that anyone “misbehaving” in court would be kept in the holding cells and be dealt with later. Burger acquitted Leon Lourens Coetzee, ruling that he acted in self-defence.
The State alleged that, on 26 April 2022, Coetzee stabbed Thabethe at the Green Acres Estate in Montana, Pretoria.
The incident was caused by a message, which referred to black people as “pigs”, circulating on the estate.
It was purported to have been sent by Coetzee’s wife.
The State alleged that Coetzee stabbed Thabethe multiple times.
Thabethe was taken to Montana Hospital, where he died five days later. Coetzee claimed he attacked Thabethe in self-defence. He claimed that Thabethe had insulted him several times and had even threatened to f**k him up.
The defence claimed that two witnesses – a security guard and a minor – contradicted themselves during the trial. The security guard testified that Thabethe was stabbed three times, while the minor claimed he was stabbed six to eight times.
After studying all the evidence brought before the court, Burger delivered a not guilty and discharged verdict. He said Coetzee acted in self-defence.
“Two State witnesses contradicted each other. Their version of what happened at the scene differed so much, it seemed they were on different planets when the incident took place.”
I had to caution the two witnesses to listen carefully when questions were posed to them,” said Burger.
He said:
“…. he only wanted to scare Thabethe off his property. Coetzee’s version was corroborated by a witness, who testified on his behalf. I thus find the deceased approached the accused with a stone in his hand, aiming for his head.
“Had the deceased succeeded with his attack, it might have had serious, if not fatal, consequences for the accused. I find the attack by the deceased unlawful. Coetzee was entitled to defend himself against the attack,” Burger said.
The court added that Coetzee’s evidence was corroborated by objective evidence.
Man accused of killing neighbour over WhatsApp row claims it was ‘self-defence’
“Two doctors testified that Thabethe sustained three stab wounds to his body. I reach my conclusion by taking into account all facts before me.
“The faceless and unscrupulous person took a screenshot of a text message, seemingly without basis, deliberately sent the said message to Thabethe that Coetzee’s wife wrote the message referring to black people, in general, as pigs.
“This action could have been taken to create racial tension and hate. This action resulted in a tragic event which left many victims. The next of kin of Thabethe lost a father, brother, son and husband.
“I can only imagine the devastation the incident caused to the deceased’s family. The accused was humiliated by his arrest. He was denied bail. He was later released on bail two months later.
“He incurred huge financial expenses to secure competent legal representatives for his trial. He has to live with the idea that he was the cause of the death of another human being. His actions were, therefore, not unlawful. The accused [is] found not guilty and discharged,” concluded Burger.
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