By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

Johan Marais, a former Apartheid police officer, is being sentenced by the Gauteng High Court in Benoni for the murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka in 1987, as he was fatally shot by the disgraced former police officer. 

Nyoka was fatally shot at his home in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni at the age of 23. Marais had previously stated that Nyoka was armed when he shot him, but has since pleaded guilty admitting that Nyoka was indeed unarmed and was not a threat to him or his colleagues on the day of the shooting. Marais was 28 at the time he shot young Nyoka as well as being the leader of the reaction unit stationed in Dunnottar. 

 On the 24th of August 1987 at around 2am, Marais accounts that they broke into Nyoka’s home in Daveyton where he was shot four times and his colleagues firing another five shots at Nyoka despite already being murdered by the initial round of shots fired by Marais. 

The motivation behind Nyoka’s brutal murder was that he was opposed to the apartheid government which at the time was considered a very serious threat to the relevant authorities. Marais has also acknowledged that he feels remorse over acting out of unlawful instruction. 

Psychologist Kirsten Clark has stated that Marais is willing to participate in rehabilitation programmes due to his age and current poor health. Marais however, has mentioned that he is willing to accept his punishment by being sentenced if it so pleases the court. 

In 1997 Nyoka’s mother, Samora Nyoka, and his sister Alegria Nyoka, had participated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in order to seek justice and to uncover the truth behind the murder of Caiphus Nyoka, to which none of the officers involved had applied for amnesty. There had been a routine internal hearing that had taken place at the time of the murder, where the officers involved in the murder were told to testify self-defence and that Nyoka was armed and had posed a threat to their lives.

The GOOD party have expressed their approval of Johan Marais sentencing stating; “ The GOOD Party welcomes the Gauteng High Court’s sentencing of apartheid-era policeman Johan Marais to 15 years imprisonment for the 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka. Marais pleaded guilty to the murder but declined to turn State Witness against three former colleagues who have pleaded not guilty of participating in Nyoka’s murder and are due for trial later this year.” 

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentencing of Johan Marais in a press statement saying; “ This sentence reflects the NPA and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) commitment to ensuring accountability for atrocious crimes that were referred to the NPA by the TRC.”

Johan Marais was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the murder of Caiphus Nyoka by Gauteng High Court judge Mpho Lilane today.