The Gauteng High Court, sitting at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on November 12, heard closing arguments in the murder trial of former apartheid-era police officers Leon van den Berg, Abraham Engelbrecht, and Pieter Stander, accused of killing Daveyton student activist Caiphus Nyoka in 1987.

Nyoka, a Congress of South African Students (Cosas) leader and Transco East Rand co-ordinator, was allegedly targeted by a police unit formed to combat so-called “terrorism” during apartheid.

He was killed on August 24, 1987, during what police at the time described as an operation to apprehend him.

Stander’s attorney argued that under Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act (Act 51 of 1977), officers believed they were legally justified in using deadly force if a suspect resisted arrest and posed a perceived threat. He said the officers involved believed they were acting lawfully and in self-defence.

He further claimed that the State had portrayed Nyoka as an idealistic youth leader. Evidence suggested he might have received military or weapons training and was linked to explosives-related activities, according to affidavits presented during earlier trials.

Van den Berg’s attorney contended that there was no evidence linking his client to the killing or any planning thereof, saying the State had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was involved in the murder or shared a common purpose.

Engelbrecht’s defence also rejected the State’s reliance on common purpose, saying his client merely entered the room to identify Nyoka, left before shots were fired, and had no knowledge that others intended to kill the activist.

Prosecutor Daniel Mogotsi said the former officers made Nyoka their personal target, continuously harassing and frequently arresting him, but releasing him due to insufficient evidence. He questioned why riot police entered Nyoka’s room instead of the security branch and why his friends were removed before shots were fired.

“Their intention was not to arrest but to kill,” Mogotsi asserted, emphasising that Nyoka posed no threat, as he was asleep in his room when the officers stormed in.

The case has been postponed to December 2 for judgment at the Johannesburg High Court.

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