waterkloof four: bail conditions tighten 
07 May 2008

The bail conditions for the so-called Waterkloof Four were tightened by the Pretoria High Court after it rejected an appeal to overturn their murder conviction and sentence on Wednesday.  Judges Willie Seriti and Piet Ebersohn ruled that there was no reason to interfere with the 2005 conviction and effective 12 years imprisonment for murder and assault.

Legal Council for Christoff Becker, Frikkie du Preez, Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt then indicated that they planned to bring an application to appeal the High Court's decision to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

Seriti and Ebersohn gave the four's counsel seven days to bring "a substantive" application for leave to appeal and extended the bail of the four who were not in court pending the outcome of the application. The two judges however tightened their bail conditions ruling that they had to report to the investigating officer every Monday and Friday instead of once a month and that they had to get permission to leave the Pretoria area.

They also had to hand in all travel documentation. The four were sentenced in the Pretoria regional court in January last year for the crimes they committed in 2001 when they were minors and still at school. Seven years ago, they assaulted an unknown man in Constantia Park, Pretoria, then kicked and punched to death a second man in a park in Moreleta.

They were returning from a night club in Hatfield.

Sapa, www.legalnet.co.za