CHINHOYI — Commercial farmer Daniel Brink Bosman and farm worker Douglas Zhanewo are set to face a High Court trial over the 2022 death of 12-year-old Suarance Moffat, amid conflicting accounts surrounding the circumstances in which the boy sustained his fatal injuries.
The matter has reportedly been scheduled for October 27 under case numbers CRB CHNCD 1167-68/26.
The allegations against the two men remain unproven, and both are presumed innocent until a court establishes otherwise.
Suarance died after sustaining a serious head injury in an incident involving farm machinery.
According to the boy’s family, he was struck by the front section of a combine harvester after children who were playing in a maize field were allegedly chased.
Bosman has denied the allegations and previously dismissed claims that he was responsible for the boy’s death.
The case has undergone several developments since the incident, with Zhanewo initially facing a different charge.
He was prosecuted for culpable homicide over allegations that Suarance had been run over by a tractor he was operating. However, the prosecution was unsuccessful, and Zhanewo was acquitted in 2024 after the State failed to establish that the tractor had caused the boy’s injuries.
The earlier matter was recorded under case number CHN/CD/1983/24.
Following the acquittal, Suarance’s father, Tichaona Moffat, continued pushing for authorities to reopen investigations, arguing that the circumstances surrounding his son’s injuries had not been adequately explained.
In April 2025, the family reportedly filed a fresh murder complaint against Bosman at Murereka Police Station.
NewZimbabwe reported at the time that police opened a murder docket under CR45/04/25, alongside another case relating to an allegedly false report.
The family alleges that Bosman was operating a combine harvester when he drove towards children in the maize field, resulting in Suarance being struck.
Bosman, however, has disputed that version of events and has maintained that the murder allegations were linked to broader disputes concerning his farm.
He has also called for investigators to consider other possible explanations for the boy’s death.
With the matter now headed for the High Court, prosecutors will be required to present evidence supporting their allegations, while the defence will have an opportunity to challenge the State’s case.
The trial is expected to focus on the circumstances surrounding the incident, who was operating the machinery involved, the nature of Suarance’s injuries and whether the evidence establishes criminal responsibility on the part of either accused.
There are also discrepancies in previous reports concerning important details of the case, including the date of the incident and the name of the farm where it allegedly occurred.
One recent account reportedly places the incident on October 21, 2022, while an earlier report refers to a post-mortem conducted on May 24 of the same year. The locations have also been identified differently in various reports.
Those inconsistencies will need to be clarified through official court documents, the indictment, post-mortem records and evidence presented during the trial.
For now, the High Court proceedings will provide an opportunity for the competing accounts to be tested against witness evidence, forensic findings and the respective cases presented by the prosecution and defence.
Neither Bosman nor Zhanewo can legally be described as having murdered Suarance unless and until the court finds them guilty.