Trial in Caiphus Nyoka Murder Case is set to start on 22 April 2024, Fourth Accused Indicted

Press Statement by the Foundation for Human Rights and Webber Wentzel

The Foundation for Human Rights and Webber Wentzel welcome the arrest and
subsequent indictment of the fourth accused, Pieter Stander, in connection with the
murder of anti-apartheid activist Caiphus Nyoka. Stander was apprehended at O.R.
Tambo International Airport on 5 April 2024 but was subsequently released on warning.
He appeared before the Benoni Magistrates’ Court on 12 April 2024, where he was
formally indicted for murder.

Stander will stand trial alongside Johan Marais, Leon Louis Van Den Berg, and Abram
Hercules Engelbrecht. The accused face charges of conspiracy to commit murder,
murder, and defeating the ends of justice.

The trial in the matter is scheduled to commence in the Gauteng High Court, sitting at the
Benoni Magistrates’ Court, on 22 April 2024 and will run until 3 May 2024.

Caiphus Nyoka, born on 9 February 1964, was a prominent leader of the Congress of
South African Students (COSAS) in Daveyton, Gauteng. Targeted by the East Rand
security police, Nyoka faced harassment and multiple arrests under oppressive legislation.
On 24 August 1987, at approximately 02h30 in the morning, Nyoka was fatally shot at his
family home in Daveyton by a police unit that was established to ‘deal with terrorism’.

During 1988 and 1989 an inquest was held before the Benoni Magistrates’ Court. Magistrate JP Myburgh found that the police had acted in self-defense, despite the family leading evidence that Nyoka posed no threat to the police officers before he was shot and found with twelve bullet wounds to his body.

In 1997, Nyoka’s sister, Alegria, appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC), demanding an investigation into her brother’s killing. Although the
TRC found that members of the East Rand security police “executed Mr Nyoka in cold
blood”, no-one applied for amnesty in this matter. The TRC referred the murder of
Caiphus Nyoka to the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) for further investigation and
prosecution.

The case re-emerged more than two decades later in 2019, when Marais confessed to a
Rapport journalist that the police had murdered Nyoka on 24 August 1987. In the light of
the confession, the FHR approached the NPA and the DPCI prompting a renewed
investigation. With the support of the Webber Wentzel Pro-Bono Department, the Nyoka
family started putting pressure on the NPA and DPCI to move swiftly with the matter. It
took the NPA three years to bring formal charges against the three accused, highlighting
the complexities and challenges of prosecuting apartheid-era crimes.

The FHR and Webber Wentzel acknowledge the recent progress in the case, particularly
the efforts of the DPCI and the NPA, and we wish to commend the sterling work of the
investigating officer in executing the arrest of Stander.

End/

For more information contact:

Odette Geldenhuys or Jos Venter, legal representatives for the Nyoka Family, at
odette.geldenhuys@webberwentzel.com and jos.venter@webberwentzel.com

For more information on the FHR Unfinished Business of the TRC Programme, contact
Gina Snyman at gsnyman@fhr.org.za

For more information on the “Unfinished Business of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission” Programme that is run by the Foundation for Human Rights consult our
website: https://unfinishedtrc.co.za