Two Former South African Apartheid Police Officers Found Guilty of Murdering Student Activist in 1987.
By: Kaya 959
Two former apartheid-era police officers in South Africa have been found guilty of the premeditated murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka. The verdict was delivered on Tuesday by the Pretoria High Court, sitting in Johannesburg.
Former Sergeant Pieter Stander and Major Leon Louis van den Berg were convicted for their roles in Nyoka’s killing. Although van den Berg was acquitted on some charges, both men remain guilty of murder.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the case has been postponed to Thursday, 11 December 2025, for a bail application ahead of sentencing. Until then, both men will remain in custody.
Mahanjana detailed that on the night of 23 August 1987, Stander and van den Berg—members of the South African Police Reaction Unit—met to plan Nyoka’s assassination. They organised a raid on his home.
“In the early hours of 24 August 1987, at around 02:30, Stander, Engelbrecht, and other members of the Reaction Unit, who are charged separately, stormed Nyoka’s room, where he was sleeping with three friends. After identifying him, they removed his friends from the room and shot him nine times. Nyoka died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds,” Mahanjana explained.
The court ruled that the State had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Mahanjana added that the judgment marks an important step toward justice for the Nyoka family.