Port Elizabeth – A 27-year-old man let out an audible sigh of relief and thanked God when he was acquitted for the murders of two young men in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Wednesday.
Leyottconn Bezuidenhout was found not guilty on two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and was also found not guilty on charges relating to possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The State alleged that in February 2014 Bezuidenhout shot and killed Franklin Davids in Helenvale following an argument.
The State further alleged that Preston Pietersen and another witness who cannot be named were at the scene when the incident occurred.
In March 2014 Bezuidenhout was arrested and was subsequently released on bail in June that year.
Towards the end of June, Pietersen was gunned down in Helenvale which forms part of the city’s gang plagued Northern Areas. The State alleged that Bezuidenhout chased Pieterson and fired several shots at him and another person.
Pietersen died in hospital and, according to the State, he was “likely to give material evidence” around the incident which saw Davids’s life being taken.
In delivering his judgment on Wednesday, referring to the first incident, Judge Jan Eksteen said that Pietersen’s statement to police before his death, along with evidence given by two other State witnesses, did not add up.
Referring to the incident which resulted in the death of Pietersen, Eksteen said that the evidence of a single State witness could not be corroborated, nor was it reliable.
He added that the witness had limited knowledge of Bezuidenhout’s physical description.
Families at the court were devastated following the judgment on Wednesday.
Franklin Davids’s mother, Hazel, said that her heart was broken for two years and it would continue to be that way.
“I have been crying for two years and I will continue to cry, he will get his day,” she said.
On the other side of the courtroom Bezuidenhout said he was happy to be leaving Port Elizabeth.
He told reporters that his family neither supported or visited him while he was in prison.
“I have two brothers and three sisters, and I have written them off. I thank God I am free, I am leaving this place and I’m going to live in Potchefstroom,” he said.
African News Agency