Family of Caiphus Nyoka will have to wait 7 months for justice

JOHANNESBURG - The family of anti-apartheid activist Caiphus Nyoka will have to wait for seven more months for justice to be administered against his alleged killers.

Four former apartheid police officers stand accused of Nyoka’s murder in 1987 at his Daveyton home.

The State believes police had planned to silence Nyoka who was a leader in the Congress of South African Students at the time.

It’s a seven-month wait after 37 years of agony.

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The trial of the apartheid police accused of being behind Nyoka’s murder was set to begin this month, but the lawyer for Pieter Stander - the fourth and final accused - applied for an extension.

Stander was arrested at the beginning of this month at the OR Tambo International Airport while returning from Iraq where he works as a soldier.

His lawyers have argued that he has not had enough time to prepare his defence.

On Tuesday, acting judge Gerhardus Botha agreed to give him more time.

"I find if the application to postpone this case is refused, it would effectively mean that the door would be closed for the applicant to meaningfully prepare his defence and meaningfully participate in the proceedings – thus infringing on his rights."

In the meantime Stander - who has been released on R350,000 bail - will continue working in Iraq- after the court agreed to give him his passport.

STATE TO CHALLENGE BAIL RULING

The State in the case will challenge a ruling by the high court after it allowed one of the accused to travel to Iraq to work as a soldier.

When opposing an application by Stander to have his passport given back to him allowing him to work in Iraq, the State argued that he is an even greater flight risk because South Africa after does not have an extradition treaty with the country in the middle east.

But acting judge Gerhardus Botha did not buy this argument saying the State has failed to prove how stander is a flight risk.

Nyoka’s family says the ruling is shocking.

“We prepared the family for the postponement and they anticipated it. In terms of the return of his passport, the family is quite shocked by that decision because there’s a lot of risks associated to it.”

The trial against the four former apartheid cops will commence in November.