RETURNED TO COURT: Johan van der Merwe.
Image: supplied
A former police reservist who was found guilty of murdering a Hanover Park dad is expected to be sentenced today after proceedings were hamstrung yesterday due to an outstanding medical report.
Constable Johan van der Merwe returned to the Wynberg Regional Court yesterday nearly two months after he was convicted for the murder of Marlon Fuller.
The 38-yer-old dad died in December 2020 after being struck in the abdomen when Van der Merwe fired a shotgun into a crowd.
His death sparked a riot as angry mense accused cops of opening fire for no reason while trying to disperse the crowd.
The matter, investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), also led to the arrest of fellow reservist Constable Eugene Jones who was charged with defeating the ends of justice, but charges later dropped.
The former reservist went on trial in May 2023 when he pleaded not guilty to all the charges amid contentions by the State that he was not authorised to be in possession of a shotgun as a reservist.
At the time of the murder questions also arose surrounding how Fuller got access to the ammunition used to load the shotgun as it had not been issued by Philippi SAPS where he was stationed at the time.
While State witnesses living in Cascade Court claimed the attack was unprovoked, Van der Merwe told the court that he thought he was firing a rubber bullet.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says: "The matter has been rolled over to tomorrow [Tuesday] for defence to indicate if their medical report is ready. The State is ready to proceed with the sentencing."