Justice after decades: Apartheid-era officers convicted for Caiphus Nyoka’s murder

The Gauteng High Court convicted two former apartheid-era police officers, Pieter Stander and Abram Engelbrecht, for the 1987 assassination of student activist Caiphus Nyoka. A third accused, Leon van den Berg, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence linking him directly to the killing.

The attack on Nyoka occurred on 24 August 1987 at his home in Daveyton. Evidence presented in court revealed that members of the apartheid Security Branch’s Reaction Unit forcibly removed Nyoka from his room and executed him. The state argued that the murder was premeditated, politically motivated, and orchestrated under senior police command.

Testimony established that Engelbrecht issued the order to eliminate Nyoka, while Stander carried out the act. Van den Berg, however, could not be proven to have participated, leading to his acquittal. The verdict builds on previous proceedings, including the guilty plea and sentencing of Johan Marais, another officer involved in the killing.

Nyoka’s family and civil-society organisations hailed the ruling as a long-overdue measure of justice, providing recognition for a young activist who sacrificed his life fighting racial oppression. Legal experts note that the case underscores the principle that crimes against human rights, even decades old, will not go unpunished.