Bus killer has no remorse

2003-05-02 19:54

Pretoria - Before receiving a triple life sentence for murdering three black people on a Pretoria bus in 2000, De Wet Kritzinger told the city's high court he had intended to kill many more, and had no remorse for what he had done.

"I believed I would be a hero in the eyes of my Father (God)," he said.

After choosing not to testify in his own defence, Kritzinger went into the witness box in mitigation of sentence on Friday.

He would not take the oath, saying it was a sin.

Speaking confidently and calmly, the former high school hostel head prefect quoted from the Bible during his testimony, and compared himself to Old Testament figures such as Abraham, Moses and Samson.

'A sign from God'

He regarded his ex-wife's announcement that she would remarry - a terrible sin in his eyes - as a sign from his "Father" that he had to keep an earlier promise.

"The promise was that I would act for my nation someday in future and commit a political deed to convey that which my nation believes...

"If I did not keep the promise, then I might not only lose Marianna (his ex-wife) but also my family. I could be maimed. The Father could punish me further."

With the bus shooting he intended to elicit a confrontation with police, who would kill him so Marianna would be free to remarry.

Prosecutor Helen van Jaarsveld asked whether killing people was not a sin, according to the Bible.

"According to the Bible I may not kill my fellow men ("naaste" in Afrikaans). Black people are not my fellow men," Kritzinger replied.

Another motive was to send the message to the government that if farm murders continued, more whites might seek retribution.

He targeted black people because they were the ones killing farmers, he said.

Boer nation also to blame

He quoted from Isaiah to indicate that the Boer nation was also partially to blame for the attacks. "The Father" was using blacks to punish them for disobedience, he said.

Asked if he would do the same thing again, Kritzinger replied that he had kept his promise and would do nothing if "the Father" did not want it.

"I don't believe in, for instance, overthrowing the government."

None of the rightwing groups or people with whom he was involved ever had plans to overthrow the government. They had gathered food and ammunition though because the prophet Siener van Rensburg had foreseen an attack on the whites, Kritzinger testified.

In cross-examination Van Jaarsveld said he had never planned to die, or else he would not have jumped from the bus.

"I left it to the Father," Kritzinger replied.

Exaggerated sense of religion

Clinical psychologist Almero Weyers testified for the defence that Kritzinger had an exaggerated sense of religion without insight into its pathological nature.

He said Kritzinger had, in his belief, lost his country, his job, his future, and especially his wife.

"The bus attack could be the final action to handle his stress... He and members of the public were the victims of his skewed perception."

Another clinical psychologist, Jonathan Scholtz, testified for the State that many other ordinary people were subject to the same stress factors. Kritzinger had control over his willpower all the time, he said.

Scholtz described Kritzinger as an extreme introvert, and very self-centred.

'Cool, calm, cold-blooded' attack

Judge Dion Basson termed Kritzinger's actions racist, unscrupulous and unjustifiable.

"You coolly, calmly... cold-bloodedly prepared to shoot people," he said.

He rejected the evidence that Kritzinger had planned to be shot dead by police.

Basson said he would not address the merits of Kritzinger's religious or political beliefs.

"But there are limits to how one practises one's religion. One cannot use religion to cover up one's criminal conduct."

The judicial system recognised the human dignity and equality of each citizen, Basson said.

"You trampled upon these principles by killing people because they were black."

There was a possibility that Kritzinger could commit similar deeds in future, the judge said.

Basson sentenced Kritzinger to life terms for each of the murders of Mduduzi Nyembe, Gogo Mathebula and Thembekile Phasha, and to 10 years each on four attempted murder charges.

Relatives of the victims said they were happy about the sentence.

"We'll stand by him," said Kritzinger's sister Debbie Visser. "We believe in him. He's a good person."

Outside court a man displayed a poster with the words: "My God is not a killer or a racist."

- SAPA