PIETERMARITZBURG October 14 1999 - SAPA
"KILL THE BOER" SLOGAN LED TO FARM KILLING: TRC
The convicted murderer of a Vryheid farmer told the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday that his crime was influenced by the
"kill the Boer, kill the farmer" slogan he heard at African National
Congress rallies. Ntuthuko Chuene, 28, is serving a life sentence for the murder
of Godfrey Frederick Lanz Heuer on August 22, 1992. He also stole a Rossi
Special firearm, ammunition and a suitcase containing about R1000 in cash, a
pocket calculator and books. He said he stole the guns to defend his community
from the Inkatha Freedom Party. Chuene said his accomplice in the killing, Piet
Nkosi, was later shot and killed by the police. He said he was forced by
circumstances in the area where he lived, Mondlo, to commit the crimes. The
killing was not directed at Heuer, as he just happened to be a white farmer at
the wrong time. "I could have killed any other white man I came across at
that time. My frustrations were directed to white men because they had what we
did not have," Chuene said. "I am sorry, I look back now and
regret." Heuer's wife Amy said she did not believe Chuene killed her
husband because of politically motivated reasons. "I do not want him to be
granted amnesty. I watched my husband die in front of me and could not help
him," she said.
© South African Press Association, 1999
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