v3695 Jim Kgethang Mokwena

17

Mokwena faced four charges, two counts of murder and one each of robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape. He had robbed Mr and Mrs Dercksen on their smallholding, raped Mrs Dercksen and killed them both.

The Dercksens were a retired couple who lived in the Bredell section outside Kempton Park. They kept much to themselves and the highlight of their week was Sunday afternoon when their sons and daughters came to visit with the couple’s grandchildren. They kept a few animals, a milk cow and its calf, a heifer, some fowls and two dogs. At the time of his death Mr Dercksen was seventy-four years old and Mrs Dercksen sixty-nine.

Their daughter and son-in-law, Jan Venter, had visited them on Sunday 16 March 1986. Venter had spoken to the elderly couple the following Wednesday evening when they had telephoned to wish him a happy birthday. The Venters received their weekly milk supply from Mr Dercksen; that was one of the reasons for their regular Sunday visits. When Venter arrived at the smallholding in the late afternoon of the next Sunday, 23 March, he noticed immediately that there was something wrong. The gate was hanging askew, its bottom hinge dislodged. A tree in the privet lane was broken. He found a short note written by one of the Dercksens’ daughters pinned to the back door, to the effect that she had been there earlier in the afternoon but found her parents were away. On his arrival the cows had come running towards him and on closer inspection it became obvious that they had been without water for days. Venter immediately watered them. Then he noticed that the shed was locked, something his father-in-law had never done. A terrible smell emanated from the shed. One of the Dercksens’ sons arrived and he and Venter forced entry into the shed. They found Mr Dercksen’s body on the floor of the shed, partly covered by grass. A wire ligature was tied tightly around his neck. The body was already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Shocked by what they had found they started looking for Mrs Dercksen. They broke into the house and found that the telephone line had been cut. There were signs that someone other than the Dercksens had been in the house for some time. A suitcase packed with Mrs Dercksen’s clothing was found in the bedroom. In the meantime more members of the family had arrived at the smallholding. Since they could not alert the police by telephone, they sent someone to the police station while others continued their frantic search for Mrs Dercksen. Someone spotted an area of recently disturbed ground near the cowshed. In that shallow grave they found Mrs Dercksen’s body, no more than twelve metres from where her husband’s body lay.

What happened to the Dercksens between Wednesday 19 March and Saturday 22 March 1986 was subsequently recounted by Mokwena:

I was arrested today and have made a mess. I have killed people. I found them at the house. I went into the house in the morning. I found the man at the cowshed. I grabbed him around the waist with my arms. I then picked up a rock and hit him with it while he was lying on the ground. He was bleeding. I then took a piece of wire from my pocket and tied it around his neck. After that I took grass and placed it on him. Then I took the lock and locked the cowshed. I walked away.

I then came across a white woman. She was afraid. I called her. She ran away. I prevented her from fleeing. I tripped her and she fell down. I pulled her to the house and locked the door.

I asked her where the money was and she kept quiet. I was sitting on top of her at this stage. I was holding her hands. I asked her again and she remained quiet. Then I throttled her. After I had throttled her, I had sexual intercourse with her. She held onto my body while I was lying on top of her. I then throttled her. She was stronger than I. She held onto my clothes. I hit her with my fists.

I had a rope in my pocket. I took it out and tied it around her neck. I let go of her for a while and she took a deep breath. She screamed. When I heard her screaming, I pulled the rope tighter. At this stage I put my foot on her and pulled the rope tighter. I then noticed that she had no strength left and her hands became limp. I pulled her under the bed. I lowered the blankets on the bed to the floor so that she could not be seen.

I then searched the wardrobe and removed some clothing that I put on the floor. There were jackets and dresses. I found a firearm in a pillowcase. There were two firearms; a big one and a small one. I planned to sell them but decided against that. I put the big one aside under the mattress. I took the small firearm to another room and put it under a pillow. I turned the television on. At that stage I made some porridge. I slaughtered a fowl and cooked it. I then watched some television.

I went to pack some clothing in a suitcase. While I was busy doing that, the dog barked and I went outside. I fed the dog. I went to the car as I wanted to drive it. I started it. The car could only go forward and I decided not to drive it because I would be arrested. I went to the other car and opened the hood. The battery was present but a certain wire had been cut. I looked for some wire and repaired the connection. I tried to start the car but it would not start. I then left it.

I went back into the house. I took the wheelbarrow and loaded the woman in it and went and buried her. I took the television set and went to sell it. I also sold the clothing at Tembisa. After selling these items, I went back to the house. I took some suitcases and sold them at Bredell. I stayed at the house the whole Saturday. I left early on the Sunday morning. In the afternoon I saw a car and returned. When I saw the car I ran away.

I later heard they were looking for me, but they did not tell me that. I then took other things there. The car was gone then. I then took these trousers, socks and shoes I’m wearing now. (Brown trousers, brown socks and brown shoes.) I took two blankets and went and sold them. I put my own shoes around the corner of the house. I burned my own trousers. I left my shirt in the toilet. I then put on another shirt. I decided to leave because I was afraid I would be caught. I locked the house and threw the key through the window.

I rambled about the smallholdings looking for liquor. The money ran out and I decided to look for work. I was thinking that I had done a strange thing. I looked for work at a certain Italian’s place. That was the Wednesday. I encountered his wife and children. They ordered me to stop. I was afraid they would call the police. An old woman said I should come the next day. Then I came across the detectives. They were driving a white car. I thought they were looking for me but they drove past. I saw them going in at the Italian’s place. I left and asked for a place to sleep. I slept.

The next day I went to the Italian. I went into an African woman’s room. The Italian came and asked me if I was the one looking for work. I said yes. He left me and walked away. Then some other people came there and arrested me. I went with them and asked what I had done. I was afraid to tell them. I thought they were going to hit me. At the police station they said I must just tell the truth, they won’t hit me. I said I would and told only the truth. A photograph had been taken of me. They asked if I was the person in the photograph. I said the photograph wasn’t clear.

Then I was brought here. That is all.

On 16 February 1987 the Court convicted Mokwena on all four counts and imposed the death sentence on each of the murder charges, and ten years imprisonment on each of the robbery and rape counts.

Mokwena was hanged with Moatche, Scheepers and Wessels on 26 November 1987. He was twenty-seven years old.

I tried to make sense of the four cases I had read.

What did these men have in common? Was there a pattern? I listed similarities and distinctions in my mind. Had there been mistakes in the tactics adopted by defence counsel in those trials and could Wierda and I avoid making them?

Moatche, Scheepers and Wessels had killed in gangs.

They were young men, in their late teens or very early twenties.

Wessels, I thought, had been quite drunk, but not so Moatche and Scheepers, and Mokwena had been stone cold sober.

Mokwena was a loner, but like the others he was a young man.

Scheepers, Wessels and Mokwena had also raped their victims. In each case the rape was across the racial divide. Scheepers and Wessels, white men, had raped African women. Mokwena, an African man, had raped a white woman.

I thought about motives.

Greed was present in the case of both Moatche and Mokwena.

And what about killing simply to avoid detection? Undoubtedly Scheepers and Wessels had done so. Mokwena also admitted as much.

It was more difficult to find a motive in the rape cases. What motive could a man have for rape? Rape is a crime of violence, my professor had said, it does not belong in the chapter dealing with sexual offences. He was talking about his own book on criminal law.

If the professor was right, then Scheepers, Wessels and Mokwena were involved in some power play when they raped and killed their victims. I also thought about the apparent desire in all of these men to confess their crimes. Why would anyone in their position want to confess as soon as they are confronted by authority? Mynhardt had even gone to surrender himself at the police station and so had Wessels and his friends. Mokwena had made no real effort to escape.

In the end nothing made complete sense, but the one factor that stood out above all others was the utter contempt these men had for the lives of their victims. They were so bent on killing that they did not pay much heed to the danger to their own lives either.

It wasn’t easy to work up any sympathy for the killers, but I worried that Labuschagne would soon join them in the registers.