The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane welcomed the sentencing of Schalk Myburgh (52) and his son Schalk Myburgh Jnr (29) by the Pretoria High Court on 19 November 2019.
Schalk Myburg (52) was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for murder, of which 5 years was suspended on condition that he is not found guilty of any offence which has an element of violence and Schalk Myburgh Jnr (29) was also sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for murder, of which 3 years was suspended on condition that he is not found guilty of any offence which has an element of violence.
The sentencing stems from an incident that occurred on Tuesday, 29 December 2015, wherein a 55 year old Rickson Morake Mavula was brutally murdered. It was revealed during court proceedings that at about 20:00 on the said day, Mavula, accompanied by his three children, drove his vehicle to look for one of his goats which drowned in the dam alongside Havana Road in Sandrift, Brits.
The Mavulas were busy rescuing their goat, when two males approached them and blocked the way by parking their vehicle in front of the family’s car. Mavula was then accused of theft of the goat and subsequently assaulted. It was during the assault that Mavula fell down on the ground. One of the accused, Schalk Myburgh Jnr got in the vehicle and drove over Mavula. The accused left Mavula motionless and went to the nearby farm where they related the story to the owner.
The following morning, on Wednesday, 30 December 2015, the Myburgh’s went to Brits Police Station where they reported that they were attacked by a group of approximately 10 people. Preliminary investigation was conducted and revealed that the allegations were false.
Consequently, the pair were arrested on Sunday, 10 January 2016, through the evidence provided by Mavula’s 15 year old son, who also witnessed the gruesome ordeal.
The duo were ultimately found guilty for murder by the North Gauteng High Court on Friday, 20 September 2019.
The Provincial Commissioner lauded the detectives for leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is served. “We will continue to work hard to ensure that those who commit crime including those who take the law into their own hands as it happened in this case, are brought to book to face the full might of the law. We have no doubt that the sentence will send a strong message that taking the law into one’s hands cannot be tolerated, ”said Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane.
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