Frustration for Daniel Botha’s family as appeal hearing doesn’t happen
Botha’s stepfather, André, said they arrived at court by 08:00 and were shuffled from one court to another.
Devastation and frustration were evident on the faces of Daniël Botha’s parents as they left the Pretoria High Court after learning that their son’s killers would not be appearing in court as scheduled. They waited three hours.
Botha’s mother, Catharina Pretorius, said they had been informed that the men convicted in connection with her son’s death, Gideon Fourie, Jacques de Lange, and Sampie Hearn, were due to appear in court for an appeal hearing.
Botha (26) died on July 29, 2018, three days after he was assaulted at Dingo’s pub in Lakefield. Fourie, de Lange and Hearn, all 22 at the time, were arrested and sentenced on May 10, 2023.
Also Read: WATCH: Daniël Botha murder: family hoped for 15-year sentence for all three accused
Fourie received 15 years of imprisonment for murder, while de Lange and Hearn were sentenced to five years each for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Both also received an additional two years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years, on condition they are not convicted of assault again.
According to Botha’s stepfather, André, they were at court on May 29 by 08:00. Then they shuffled from one court to another, only to discover that the defence attorneys had failed to submit all the necessary documents for the hearing.
“We are upset that we came to court for nothing after travelling from far to be here. It appears that there is no clear indication of what is happening with the case. We are in the dark,” said Catharina.
Lumka Mahanjana, the NPA regional spokesperson, said the matter was removed from the roll because the record of proceedings in the lower court was incomplete.
“A complete record was only filed by the appellants shortly before the appeal was to be heard. This did not give the State or the judges sufficient time to prepare for the appeal.
“The record must now be properly constructed, indexed and paginated by the clerk of the Benoni Magistrate’s Court. Thereafter, the appeal will be re-enrolled once the appellants and the State have filed heads of argument on the complete record,” said Mahanjana.
Denied
On May 24, 2023, the Pretoria High Court granted de Lange and Hearn bail of R7 500 each after a successful appeal hearing.
Subsequently, on June 7, Magistrate Ian Cox granted Fourie leave to appeal his conviction and sentence, though his bail application was denied.
@benonicitytimes Devastation and frustration were evident on the faces of Daniël Botha’s parents as they left the Pretoria High Court after learning that their son’s killers would not be appearing in court as scheduled. They waited three hours. Botha’s mother, Catharina Pretorius, said they had been informed that the men convicted in connection with her son’s death, Gideon Fourie, Jacques de Lange, and Sampie Hearn, were due to appear in court for an appeal hearing. #Benoni #benonitiktok #ekurhuleni #Gauteng
Cox said Fourie’s self-implication during the trial would make it difficult to overturn the conviction but added that a higher court might find the evidence sufficient for culpable homicide rather than murder.
“The accused should have an opportunity to argue those aspects before a higher court to decide whether this court indeed viewed, summarised, and evaluated the evidence correctly,” Cox said.
During the proceedings, Fourie’s lawyer argued that the 15-year sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and that Fourie should have been found guilty of assault rather than murder.
Also Read: Daniel Botha case: Fourie can appeal but bail is denied
