We hope you get no mercy: grieving son

A grieving son on Thursday told his dad's killers to “turn to God” for forgiveness, because he and his family could not forgive them.

Ockert Meyer was testifying in the trial of two Pretoria North men, Dumisane Shabangu, 37, and Thulani Ndlovu, 33, who were earlier convicted of murdering and robbing his father Nic of his cellphone and bakkie in December 2005.

Shabangu was also convicted of assaulting and kidnapping a sex worker, Dikeledi Sekhale, who told the court she was with Meyer senior when a group of men stormed in and strangled him.

She said she was forced to help carry his body to his car and was forced to accompany Shabangu to Malelane.

The body of Meyer senior, an electrical contractor from Bon Accord, was found dumped on a footpath in the veld in Sinoville.

His hands were tied behind his back with electrical cord and he was gagged.

A pair of jeans, underpants, a sock and pair of boots were found next to his half-naked body.

Meyer junior said his father was a generous person who always put others first.

He believed his father would have given the accused anything they wanted and that it was not necessary to kill him.

“We, as a family, would not like this to happen to anyone else, as we really went through hell the past five years.

“I've been in court since 2005 and not one of these accused have shown any remorse to us as a family.

“It is bad to sit at the back and see Ndlovu grinning every time he turned around and looked in our direction.

“We cannot forgive you for what you did to us. We hope the court won't show any mercy on the two of you.

“... I hope both of you will be able to turn to God and to ask Him for your forgiveness,” he said.

Meyer testified that his mother Riana, his brother and sister were still struggling to get over his father's death.

His mother had a heart problem and needed surgery, but could not get the operation before she stopped smoking, which she could not do because of the stress of the case.

Meyer junior had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, for which he would need to take medication for the rest of his life.

He told reporters that he and his father had been at a braai the night of the attack, but that he had left early.

He said he did not believe the sex worker's evidence and suspected his father had been hijacked and taken to the place in Pretoria North where he was killed, because his father had told him he would be going home shortly.

Judge Vivian Tlhapi postponed the trial to March 28 for sentencing. -

Sapa