PRESS RELEASE
To: All Media
ATT: News Editors, Human Rights Reporters
For Immediate Release
10 April 2025
Sentencing of Johan Marais in the Caiphus Nyoka Murder Case
Press Statement by the Foundation for Human Rights
On 14 April 2025, Johan Marais, a former police officer who was attached to Reaction Unit 6 based at Dunnottar, will be sentenced in the Pretoria High Court for the 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka. This sentencing marks a pivotal moment in the decades-long struggle for justice by the Nyoka family.
Caiphus Nyoka was a prominent student leader in the East Rand and the then Transvaal Province. He was a member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO), Organiser of the Transvaal Students Congress (TRASCO) in the East Rand, and President of the Student Representative Council at Mabuya High School in Daveyton, Benoni.
On 24 August 1987, Caiphus was fatally shot at his family home in Daveyton by a police unit established to deal with terrorism. In 1988 and 1989, an inquest held before the Benoni Magistrate’s Court resulted in Magistrate JP Myburgh ruling that the police had acted in self-defence, despite evidence presented by the family suggesting otherwise.
In 1997, Caiphus’ mother, Saroma Nyoka, and his sister, Alegria Nyoka, approached the TRC to seek justice and to unearth the truth behind Caiphus’ killing. None of the police officers involved in Caiphus’ killing applied for amnesty.
In October 2019, Johan Marais publicly confessed to a journalist that he had killed Caiphus in cold blood on 24 August 1987. On 12 November 2024, Marais formally pleaded guilty and was convicted of the murder.
Johan Marais’ conviction and forthcoming sentencing 37 years after Caiphus’ murder is a long-overdue but vital act of justice. It underscores the cruelty of apartheid-era policing and highlights the enduring need for victims of gross human rights violations to continue their pursuit of truth and justice. Impunity for apartheid crimes has no place in a democratic South Africa.
The trial of Johan Marais’ co-accused — Leon Louis Van Den Berg, Abram Hercules Engelbrecht, and Pieter Egbert Stander — will resume from 12 to 30 May 2025.
Media Contacts:
Foundation for Human Rights: Zaid Kimmie / Zkimmie@fhr.org.za
Webber Wentzel: Asmita Thakor / asmita.thakor@webberwentzel.com / 082 459 2327
