The small North West town of Coligny was thrust into the news back in 2017, when 16-year-old Motlhomola Mosweu was murdered after being accused of stealing sunflowers from Pieter Karsten’s sunflower plantation.

Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte (pictured above) were convicted of his murder, having pushed Mosweu out of the back of a bakkie, and Coligny was said to be living in an “apartheid time warp”.

The prosecution’s evidence depended largely on the testimony of sole eyewitness Bonakele Pakisi, who testified that Mosweu was pushed, but his credibility was thrown into question after a bombshell report.

Over the weekend, Afrikaans newspaper Rapport revealed a recording in which Pakisi confessed to having lied in court last year during the trial.

That could lead to Doorewaard and Schutte having their convictions overturned, and the news was shared gleefully amongst those who felt that the pair had been hard done by.

Well, now there’s another twist.

Over to TimesLIVE, who have incorrectly referenced Pieter Karsten as ‘Kirsten’:

On Monday, Pakisi went to the local police station and told police that he had been forced by a relative of one of the accused to lie.

Pakisi said an unknown man had come to his house on January 7, and told him that the state advocate Rapula Molefe wanted to see him in Mahikeng. He said he then drove with that man but on arrival in Mahikeng, he was given R1,000 to buy himself “anything nice” while waiting for Molefe.

Pakisi [below] said upon his return, he found Doorewaard’s relative, Pieter Kirsten, waiting for him with the man who had driven him to Mahikeng. The driver was later identified as Reverend Paul Morule, who worked for Kirsten.

“I then realised that it was a set-up, I demanded to be driven back home but they refused,” he said.

Pakisi said the men then showed him a piece of paper that contained a confession, which he was forced to read out while being recorded. He said Kirsten, a prominent Coligny businessman, also offered him R3m.

Pakisi said Kirsten had told him that he did not have a choice but to read out loud while he was recording him.

“He promised to give me R3m and also to build me a house [outside] Coligny if I say on record that the evidence I gave in court was a lie,” he said.

Pakisi said at first he refused. “He then showed me a gun and told me that if I do not agree, I will be killed in 24 hours,” Pakisi said.

Pakisi, who was kept in witness protection during the trial and only released in August of last year, also alleges that he survived two separate attacks at his home around two weeks ago.

Karsten refutes Pakisi’s claims:

“This guy [Pakisi] is not in contact with reality and I think it’s time for him to be stopped,” Kirsten said.

He claimed to have only seen Pakisi twice in court and at the police’s inspection loco.

North West police spokesperson Sam Tselanyane confirmed that Pakisi had opened a case of intimidation.

Cue the online arguments and name-calling, although at the heart of the matter lies the tragic story of a 16-year-old who lost his life.

To finish, here’s the News24 doccie, Stealing Sunflowers, released in November 2017, which “explores the events surrounding the death of Mosweu and how it changed the small North West town of Coligny forever”:

[source:timeslive]