Mystery over pupil’s death in cell - Wits Justice Project over pupil’s death in cell CAROLYN...

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Mystery over pupil’s death in cell

CAROLYN RAPHAELY

THE INQUEST into thedeath in custody of 14-year-old Leon Booysen,who allegedly hangedhimself by his grey

school trousers in a Heidelbergpolice cell four and a half years ago,continued this week in the Heidel-berg Magistrate’s Court.

Senior State pathologist DrJohannes Steenekamp, who con-ducted the autopsy on the boy at theGermiston mortuary in October2006, told the court that the cause ofdeath was consistent with hanging.However, he said he could not ruleout the possibility of suffocation.

Despite photographs of the bodytaken by Eersterust undertaker SunLai and his aunt, Sylvia Minies, whoraised the child as her own,Steenekamp told magistrate Dawidde Bruin and prosecutor AnnelieJordaan that apparent anal injuriesobserved by Minies were inconsis-tent with the autopsy proceedingshe had conducted.

He was emphatic that there wereno injuries to Leon’s hands, nails,anus or genitals at the time of thepost-mortem investigation.

“We always look for sodomywhen a young boy dies in prison,” hesaid, “and there was no evidence ofthis.”

The child was arrested anddetained on charges of housebreak-ing after he was found hiding in theroof of an abandoned hostel atEmmasdal High School in Heidel-berg, where he was a boarder and award of the State.

Former Emmasdal teacherPieter Pretorius, who found the boyhiding behind a geyser in the roof ofthe disused building, told the courtthat on hearing noises he had calledJohan Swanepoel, his head ofdepartment, to investigate andJacky Herbst, the teacher on duty,had then called the police on theinstruction of deputy headmasterEvert Pistorius.

According to Pretorius, “they(the school) often called the policebecause this was a school for stoutkinders. Usually, they took the childto the police station, took a state-ment and brought them back.

“It was common to call the police

because we couldn’t discipline them.It was the responsibility of the per-son on duty to find out what hap-pened to the boy… I wasn’t on duty.I just went to the hostel to see howthe building and painting was going.I was going to move there when thebuilding was complete.

“No one was staying in the hostelat the time. It was empty. There wasno food, nothing there. They weredoing renovations. There were nolocks on the windows and it was

easy to climb up the pipes. Leon hadput a mattress on the floor in a roomon the top floor and put a TV next tothe mattress. He never stole the TV.There was an empty room, a TV andthe bed he made for himself. He washiding away. He was co-operative,but he wouldn’t speak to me.”

Why a minor was arrested for asmall offence and held in custody forthe weekend, why he was hiding andwho he was hiding from are ques-tions still preoccupying Minies, an

Eersterust spaza shop owner whowas not informed of Leon’s deten-tion until five hours after his bodywas discovered.

Minies, who has not yet beencross-examined, did not believe thather nephew committed suicide andwas eager to discover the origins ofa message Leon allegedly left in hiscell.

Cut neatly out of toilet paper andstuck to the floor with soap, the mes-sage stated: “I am dead, I hang

myself. Beware.”Sylvia and the two friends who

accompanied her to the Heidelbergpolice cells after being notified ofLeon’s death remain mystified as tohow the boy came to be in posses-sion of a scissors in his cell and whyhe would have written the messagein English when his home languagewas Afrikaans.

● Raphaely is a member of theWits Justice Project (WJP), whichinvestigates miscarriages of justice.

Sylvia Minies holds up a photo of her nephew, Leon Booysen, who allegedly hanged himself while in police custody over housebreaking charges.

Questions over how teenager died in prison, and relative doubts suicide note

Lotter murders: ‘Iwon’t get a fair trial’VIVIAN ATTWOOD

NICOLETTE Lotter – who isaccused of killing her parents withher brother and co-accused Hardus,22 – told the Durban High Court shewould not receive a fair trial, as thejudge knew her new lawyer, and thather new lawyer had told her shewould get life.

“Sorry my lord, with all duerespect I’d like to say that throughmy constitutional rights, I am notstarting my trial without my previ-ous legal representative, advocate(Theunis) Botha.

“It is my right to have adequatetime and facilities to prepare for mydefence. I’ve already done that –with advocate Botha for almost ayear consulting about my case,” shetold Judge Chiman Patel on Wednes-day.

Nicolette, 28, told the judge thatshe was not ready for trial with hercurrent lawyer, Burt Laing.

“I’m ready for trial with him(Botha), not with the new represen-tative, whom I’ve (only) consultedwith recently on Monday. I feel mytrial won’t be a fair trial at all.”

Judge Patel observed that thematter’s long adjournment was cost-ing taxpayers money, to which Nico-lette replied: “Sorry my lord, withall due respect, to add to my request,on Monday when I consulted thesame Legal Aid attorney, the newone (Laing) told me that he is a closefriend of yours, my lord, and that Imust tell the court that I was demon-possessed when my case happened,for my defence.

“(He also said) that I’m going toget a life sentence for my case.Therefore I feel my trial won’t evenbe a fair trial with you, my lord,”Nicolette said.

Judge Patel then admitted that heknew Laing and had lectured him 30years ago.

He said he had told Laing that itwas better for him to withdraw fromthe case, and asked Nicolette if shewould be happy if he continued asthe judge in her trial. She agreed.

“It is sad that the matter beadjourned over and over, especiallyto the Lotter family who want clo-sure,” the judge said.

The siblings and Nicolette’s for-mer boyfriend, Mathew Naidoo, 24,are accused of murdering Johan, 53,and Magdalena “Riekie” Lotter, 52,in their Thames Drive, Westville,home on July 19, 2008.

Judge Patel told Nicolette that ifBotha was not available, anotherlawyer would be appointed for her.

“If you don’t like it, you’ll repre-sent yourself.

“If Mr Botha cannot come, thismatter will proceed,” Judge Patelwarned.

In November 2009, the siblings’previous lawyer, Danie Grundlingh,withdrew from the case when thecourt ruled they couldn’t use theirinheritance to pay for his services.

The case was then postponed toOctober 24.

This week was supposed to have

been the start of the trio’s trial.The Lotters and Naidoo were

arrested a day after the murders atthe Lotter family’s home.

They had initially spun an elabo-rate tale to explain the circum-stances surrounding their parents’deaths, but the police investigatingthe double homicide were uncon-vinced.

Riekie Lotter was a highlyregarded teacher at GrosvenorGirls’ High.

Her body was found in thekitchen, her hands tied with cableties.

A sock had been stuffed into hermouth, which was then sealed withduct tape.

The subsequent investigationrevealed that Riekie had beenshocked with a stun gun and thather attackers then attempted toinject air bubbles into her veins.When that failed, she was stabbed todeath repeatedly.

Johan was a senior executive atLanxess, a chrome manufacturingplant in Merebank.

His naked body was found in thecorridor leading from the couple’sbedroom.

He had been strangled with anelectric cable.

The indictment reads that theaccused conspired to kill the Lottersand that all three acted, at all times,“in pursuance of a common pur-pose”.

Naidoo was released into hismother’s care on bail of R20 000.

He has been living at the family’shome in Phoenix for more than twoyears.

Meanwhile, Nicolette andHardus, who seemingly had no oneto offer them a haven, have beenincarcerated in Westville Prison. –Staff Reporter

It’s been three years of twists andturns, including allegations ofSatanism and fights over a will, butNicolette and Hardus Lotter willappear in the Durban High Court toface charges of murdering theirparents, Johan and Riekie Lotter, attheir Westville home.

Bid to help troubled youths

IT’S BEEN a month since David Mabu, 30, left his jobas manager of a food outlet in Joburg to fulfil hisdream of helping troubled teens.

Together with Masilo Machaka and ClementLeseru, Mabu started Untold Initiative to help youngvictims of drug abuse, rape, domestic violence, sui-cidal tendencies and teen pregnancies.

“Many teens are afraid of speaking out. Othersdon’t have any money, but we are hoping that theUntold Initiative will change all of that,” said Mabu.

They have set up a hotline and been able to offercounselling to children and parents.

“We weren’t surprised to receive calls from par-ents about drug abuse. It’s a huge problem for teensin this country and needs to be addressed,” he said.

A big problem Machaka has noticed is young peo-ple’s “addiction” to social networks.

“Parents need to take responsibility and curbtheir kids’ ways,” he said.

Help is being sought from celebrities to promotethe initiative.

If you are a teenager looking for help, or an adultwho can help, contact the Untold Initiative team at076 599 7999 or 072 775 3146. – Sameer Naik

New low-cost SA airline cleared for take-off from OR TamboSUREN NAIDOO

SOUTH Africa’s newest low-cost air-line, Durban-based Velvet Sky, takesoff next week, when it begins oper-ations in the “golden triangle”between Joburg, Durban and CapeTown.

Durban entrepreneur DhevanPillay – who owns a chain of photo-

graphic stores – is behind the ven-ture, having secured financial back-ing fromKwaZulu-Natal steel mag-nate Cecil Reddy, the boss ofMacdonald Holdings.

Pillay is CEO of Velvet Sky Avia-tion, which was awarded a “Class 1Air Service Licence” in August 2009,while Reddy is chairman of the air-line.

“Velvet Sky is an independentoperator and the first airline inSouth Africa to be managed and runout of KwaZulu-Natal. We are reallyexcited about this venture and haveambitious plans to grow, “ Reddysaid.

“We are a low-fare carrier thatoffers a refreshing flying experiencetopped with great service. As a start-

up airline offering the lowest possi-ble ticket prices, our corporate phi-losophy mandates cost-savingthrough all levels of our operation.

“It is this mandate that dictatedDurban as our administrative hub ofthe business, with its lower operat-ing costs away from the bustle ofour competition in Joburg.”

Reddy said the cost of a ticket

would “not be much more than tollfees between Durban and Joburg”(R164). “Our inaugural flight on aBoeing 737-300 will take off from ORTambo International and land atKing Shaka International Airporton Tuesday,” Pillay said.

The airline begins operationswith one aircraft, increasing tothree in June. Visit flyvelvetsky.com

UK stalker loses job as London fund managerSAPA

AUSTRALIAN stalker ShumsheerSingh Ghumman has lost his job as afund manager at a London invest-ment bank, the Cape Town Magis-trate’s Court heard yesterday.

This was due to his continuedincarceration in Cape Town oncharges of attempted murder, con-spiracy to commit murder, maliciousdamage to property and attemptedarson.

Ghumman, 32, a charteredaccountant, was convicted in a Lon-don court of harassment for stalkinga South African friend he met in theUK, Hannah Rhind.

When she returned to Cape Town,

he followed her and allegedly petrol-bombed her family home in Clifton.He also plotted to kill a Cape Town res-ident (not Rhind).

According to Cape Town policespokesman Constable Ricardo Davidsthe attack on the Clifton house was a“pay-back” for the harassmentcharge.

At Friday’s proceedings beforeMagistrate Alta Fredericks seniorcounsel Billy Downer, for the prosecu-tion, said the case had been trans-ferred from the bail court. Referring toGhumman’s abandoned bail applica-tion, Downer said: “Bail is not in oursights at the moment.”

He asked for a postponement tonext month, in order to complete the

investigation. He said there had beenplea negotiations between the stateand the defence, and the “good news”was that the negotiation had beencompleted, while the “bad news” wasthat they had failed.

The purpose of the requested post-ponement was to complete the UKpart of the investigation and to fur-nish the defence team with furtherparticulars to the charges.

Downer said the case was veryserious, and that Ghumman faced ajail sentence if convicted.

Defence counsel Philip Higgo saidhe and attorney Gerhard van derMerwe had done everything possibleto ensure that the case was finalised asspeedily as possible.

Higgo said Ghumman had been incustody for about two months.

Yesterday’s appearance was Ghum-man’s seventh, he said.

He said Ghumman was a foreigner,which placed him in an unfortunatesituation in that he had already losthis job with the UK bank.

This left Ghumman in an“extremely invidious” situation finan-cially, and every effort had to be madeto have the case transferred to theCape Town Regional Court at the nextcourt appearance.

Higgo asked to be excused fromGhumman’s next appearance onApril 19 in the District Court as, dueto the ongoing cost factor, Van derMerwe would represent Ghumman.