The State opposed their release, arguing that both men were convicted of a serious offence.
Two former apartheid-era police officers convicted of the 1987 murder of anti-apartheid activist Caiphus Nyoka will spend Christmas behind bars as the State seeks life imprisonment for the men.
The convicted men, 64-year-old former Sergeant Abraham Hercules Engelbrecht and 62-year-old ex-Sergeant Pieter Stander, appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Conviction
The Gauteng High Court found Engelbrecht and Stander guilty last week.
Following their conviction, the two applied for bail pending sentencing. In affidavits before the court, they claimed to suffer from various health conditions and stated that they are financial providers for their families.
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Bail
The State opposed their release on bail, arguing that both men were convicted of a serious offence, they pose a flight risk, particularly Stander, who has previously worked outside South Africa and failed to fully disclose potential assets abroad, despite having worked in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2015.
During court proceedings, both men were told they would remain in custody for the rest of 2025 after Judge Mohamed Ismail remanded them and reserved judgment on their bail application until next year.
Premeditated murder
State prosecutor Advocate Daniel Mogotsi argued for life imprisonment for Engelbrecht and Standers for the murder of Nyoka.
“This was a premeditated and preplanned murder, so I’m going to ask for life imprisonment. If there was something more, I was going to ask for more. The manner in which a defenceless man was murdered, I’m going to argue for life.”
Mogotsi stressed that Stander is a flight risk and questioned whether he should be released on bail due to ill-defined health complications.
“It’s amazing this issue of health and age only comes into the picture now that he’s been arrested. All along, he’s been so active in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now that he has been arrested, he says I’m sick and must be outside. These are some of the things he has not told the court.”
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Judgment
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the matter will return to court next year.
“The Judge in the Johannesburg High Court reserved judgment on their bail application and postponed the matter to 20–24 July 2026 for sentencing proceedings, which will be heard in the Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni.”
Trial
During the trial, the state called five witnesses, including Caiphus Nyoka’s two sisters, Alegria and Mothasi. The court also called Gugulakhe Exodus Nyokane, an expert TRC researcher, Dr Rousseau, and the investigating officer, Lieutenant Colonel Beukman.
After the five witnesses testified, the state closed its case.
Afterwards, former commanding officer Major Leon Louis Van Den Berg, 75, who has now been acquitted, filed a section 174 application. Accused 2 also filed the application, arguing that the state had no case.
Night of the murder
At the time of his death, Nyoka was a student activist and a member of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas).
On the evening of 23 August 1987, Engelbrecht and Stander, both members of the Reaction Unit 6, including John Marais, a former Section Leader and some of the members of the security branch and other units within the South African police, allegedly met to discuss a plan to kill Nyoka.
A plan to raid his home was allegedly devised under the then-commanding officer, Van den Berg, and other Reaction Unit members (charged separately) arrived at about 2:30am at Nyoka’s homestead and stormed his room.
They allegedly found him asleep with three of his friends. After identifying him, they allegedly removed the friends from the room and thereafter proceeded to shoot him nine times. He died on the scene as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
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