message was taken to Kritzinger by the men who shot this boy, John Thomas.  None of Van Aswegen’s men were sent to Kritzinger.  Van Aswegen himself did not go back.  No one from Kritzinger came to Van Aswegen.  Van Aswegen was last seen by Kritzinger on the 12th or 13th of February, 1901, and was not seen again by him until a couple of days after the shooting.

“That the boy was shot by Van Aswegen appears clear from the two Minnaars’ evidence, who say that the boy was taken out by Van Aswegen, and that was the last they saw of him.  Kritzinger did not arrive until Sunday morning with his commando, and everyone says he knows absolutely nothing about the shooting of the native.  I would submit that there is absolutely nothing to connect Kritzinger with the shooting of this boy.

     “On the 3rd Charge there is no need to say anything.  The Court has
     already indicated that it is unnecessary to proceed further with
     it.

“I now come to the 4th Charge; the only charge in which Kritzinger was said to have been present at the shooting.  In the first two charges, Kritzinger did not appear until hours after the natives had been shot.  The only witnesses who say that Kritzinger was present at the shooting of the natives mentioned in this charge are natives.  There appear to have been no white men present.  Some one said that Schmidt was present, but it appears he did not cross the river.  We have only native evidence to this effect, and native evidence is most unreliable, and only one of the witnesses could identify Kritzinger.  We are, therefore, driven back to the evidence of Jan Louw.  Even if Jan Louw had given his evidence in a way that could not be shaken, it would be dangerous to convict on the evidence of one witness alone.  Natives have no idea of dates, time, or distances.  They find it difficult to identify prisoners.  We have seen that in the case of Jan Jonkers, and that shows how much reliance can be placed on native evidence.  Jan Jonkers identifies a man in Court as being Kritzinger who was never near the place.  Four months after a man has been killed Jan Hans goes and sees his body.  He identifies him not by the clothes he wears but by his face.  Is it possible that after being for four months on the plains of the Orange Free State, exposed to the air and the heat, a man could identify the face of another?  And the one native witness is the witness Jan Louw.  Even if Jan Louw were a strong witness, his evidence would not have been sufficient to convict, but Jan Louw’s evidence falls to the ground under cross-examination.  How did Jan Louw identify Kritzinger?  He was taken to the office at Norval’s Pont.  Now, Jan Louw had only seen one commandant in his life.  When in that commandant’s possession, his life was apparently not worth very much.  His companions were shot.  When shown any commandant’s photo he would naturally identify it with the commandant he knew.  Now, Jan Jonkers explains