Trial date finally set in murder of well-known Mokopane attorney Schalk Pienaar

Nearly fourteen months after well-known Mokopane attorney Schalk Pienaar was murdered, a trial date has been set for the man accused of orchestrating the crime. Pienaar was murdered on 19 September 2022 shortly after arriving at home. He was shot ten times in his driveway. Tsholofelo Joseph Motsoane was arrested the following month and charged with the crime. A second accused was also arrested but charges against him were later withdrawn.

Motsoane has been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other firearm-related charges and is believed to have been the driver of the getaway car. The police are still trying to trace other suspects linked to the murder.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit represents the Pienaar family, who approached the unit after numerous delays in finalising the case. In successive court appearances spanning months since Motsoane’s arrest, the matter was postponed but inexplicably a trial date was not set, until recently. The delays caused the family anxiety because of the possibility of justice not being served.

On Tuesday, 16 January, Motsoane appeared in the Mokopane Magistrates Court to apply for bail, but the matter did not proceed because his attorney did not have the required documentation to prove her right of appearance.

The unit accompanied Pienaar’s widow Fransie to court. “Fransie Pienaar remains traumatised by the day her husband died in her arms. She attended court proceedings on Tuesday to get a better understanding of the status of the case, but due to circumstances outside of her control she was again left distraught and disappointed. The previous delays in finalising the case have eroded the family’s confidence in the criminal justice system and we hope the matter will proceed with haste and be brought to finality,” said Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the unit.

Pienaar’s son Benjamin says he appreciates the unit’s support. “We know about the situation in the courts. Is it incompetence? Is there collusion? We approached AfriForum when nothing appeared to be happening. Our hope is that pressure is placed on the NPA to get this case to trial. That alone will not bring us closure, but something needs to happen. Justice needs to be done,” he said.

The bail application was postponed to 23 February 2024.

The trial has been set down for 22 to 26 July 2024 in the Polokwane High Court.