The sentencing proceedings of two former apartheid police officers convicted of the 1987 murder of Congress of South African Students (COSAS) activist Caiphus Nyoka have been postponed after one of the accused cited ill health.
Former apartheid police sergeants Abraham Hercules Engelbrecht, 61, and Pieter Stander, 60, appeared before the Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni on Tuesday for sentencing after they were found guilty on 2 December 2025 of the premeditated murder of Nyoka.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Engelbrecht’s legal representative requested that the sentencing proceedings be postponed because his client is unwell and requires consultation with a medical specialist. The defence also indicated that a pre sentence report from the Department of Correctional Services is still required before sentencing can proceed.
The court granted the application and postponed the sentencing proceedings to 9 to 13 November 2026.
During the same proceedings, the State also sought leave to appeal the acquittal of former commanding officer Major Leon Louis van den Berg, 75, who was found not guilty during the judgment delivered last year.
The presiding judge reserved judgment on the State’s application, saying the ruling would be communicated to prosecutors and the legal representatives of the accused in due course.
“The judge granted the application for postponement of sentencing proceedings to 9 to 13 November 2026. However, with regards to the leave to appeal application brought by the State, the judge reserved judgment and said that it will be sent to the State and the legal representatives of the two former apartheid police officials in due course,” said NPA Gauteng spokesperson Tshegofatso Makhudu.
Nyoka, a student activist and COSAS member from Daveyton on Gauteng’s East Rand, was abducted in August 1987 after leaving school. Evidence presented during the trial established that members of the apartheid Security Branch detained, tortured and interrogated him before he was murdered.
His body was never recovered.
The case formed part of efforts by the NPA’s Priority Crimes Litigation Unit to prosecute apartheid era crimes that were not pursued despite recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
During the trial, the court heard that Nyoka was regarded by the apartheid security police as an activist linked to anti apartheid political structures during the height of political unrest in the late 1980s.
The guilty verdict delivered in December 2025 was welcomed by Nyoka’s surviving relatives, who had waited nearly four decades for accountability.
Speaking outside court at the time, members of the Nyoka family said the conviction represented an important step towards justice, although they remained devastated that his remains have never been found. They said the prolonged delays had deepened the family’s pain and expressed hope that those responsible would receive appropriate sentences.
Human rights organisations, including the Foundation for Human Rights and the families of other apartheid victims, have repeatedly called for the speedy prosecution of outstanding TRC cases, arguing that many victims and relatives have died while waiting for justice.
The reopening of apartheid era cases gained renewed momentum following findings that political interference and delays had prevented numerous prosecutions recommended by the TRC from proceeding for many years. In recent years, the NPA has intensified investigations into several unresolved apartheid crimes through the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit.
The November sentencing proceedings are expected to determine the punishment for Engelbrecht and Stander, while the court’s pending decision on the State’s application for leave to appeal could also influence whether Van den Berg’s acquittal will be reconsidered by a higher court.
