The family of slain student activist Caiphus Nyoka has welcomed the 15 years prison sentence imposed on Johan Marais, one of the apartheid-era police officers by the Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni in Gauteng.
Nyoka was brutally killed by members of the South Africa Police (SAP) in his bedroom in August 1987 in Daveyton, after persistent police harassment at his parents’ home.
Speaking on YOUFM Newshour, family spokesperson and Caiphus niece, Nation Nyoka said that the family has been left with mixed feelings.
“It was quite a strenuous process, but the judgment was received with mixed feelings.
We feel a sense of relief for a grief that we have lived with, while on the other hand we also feel quite sad because the life lost will never be replaced, it is priceless.
So, while we respect what the court has handed down as a sentence, his life will never come back,” said Nyoka.
In addition, Nyoka said that the family accepted the court decision although it came almost four decades later, while her parents had also died with heavy hearts before justice was served.
“We are guided by what the court determined, we have always put our faith in the courts, and we can’t necessarily prescribe what we would have desired.
But what we can say is that we are satisfied with the judgment.
At the end of the day a lot of factors were considered, and I think the Judge did apply his mind quite well and in a balanced manner as well,” explained Nyoka.
Marais confessed and pleaded guilty to Nyoka’s murder, while his co-accused, Leon Louis van den Berg, and Abraham Engelbrecht, maintained their innocence.
The family said it is hopeful that the sentence will help change their minds and reconsider they’re not guilty posture shown since the start of the trial.
“We are returning to court in September to continue with the trial of the other two suspects who have maintained their innocence.
But I do feel that maybe by seeing the judgment handed down today their conscience would have awakened in them and they will realise the pain that they have inflicted in our family and justice that we have been pursuing in the past 37 years.
I do feel it might invoke some sort of emotion and sway them towards telling the truth.
The truth will always come out whether the perpetrator is ready to receive it or not, I mean in this instance specifically we were lucky enough that the perpetrator was honest enough to tell the truth of course he didn’t fully divulge a lot of information obviously in the interest of protecting himself.
But we do hope that going forward in September the ones who are still on trial will also be able to speak their truth and to give us closure as a family,” remarked Nyoka.
Meanwhile Judge Mokhine Masopa condemned the brutality of the apartheid regime, saying hopefully the judgment he imposed on Marais will change him.
“I hope you will use this opportunity to reflect, and hopefully you will change your mind and testify on behalf of the state in a matter pertaining to your former colleagues.
I hope you will also use this time to influence those police officers who killed people and are not yet detected to come forward and disclose their part in those killings.
Having said the above, I’m of the view that the sentence which I am going to impose will fit the crime that you committed,” ruled Masopa.
