A farmer from the Brits area in North West had to evacuate his farm after allegedly receiving death threats and threats to burn his house.
This follows after several protests have flared by members of the Majakaneng area, claiming that the farmer shot a 24-year-old man for stealing oranges on his farm.
Maroela Media reported that two trucks and a panel van were burned earlier this month on the N4 highway outside Mooinooi during a demonstration by residents. Several vehicles were also bombarded with stones, and various roads were blocked. The residents are apparently upset because no-one has been arrested in connection with the alleged shooting incident and the alleged victim’s body has not been found.
However, it is another mystery to which the alleged victim has disappeared and whether the accident took place at all. Brig. Police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone said police were still investigating, but so far no concrete evidence was available to arrest anyone.
“Two witnesses claim to have seen the incident. It is not clear from the allegations whether the victim was just injured or shot dead. The police have not found any grounds to arrest anyone,” he said. He also stated that the alleged victim had not yet come forward and the police had not been able to find him so far.
Mokgwabone said he was unaware that the farmer received any threats, but said the protesters had already entered the farm’s premises on two occasions. The protesters apparently stated that they were looking for the victim’s body.
“The first time was last week on Sunday when the people came to the farm and destroyed property on the farm. The police were on the scene, and some of the protesters left the premises voluntarily. The rest was removed by the police. Two or three days after that, the protesters went back there, and the police once again removed them.”
Mokgwabone said he was not aware that the farmer had to leave his farm and did not know of any matter reported to the police in this regard.
According to Hannetjie Grobbelaar, councilor of the FF Plus in the Madibeng district, the farmer, and his family left the farm on 12 August for fear of their lives. Grobbelaar said the farmer received information from reliable sources that there were plans to set his house on fire, and so left the farm. The farmer and his family could only take the most necessary items them and had to leave the rest of their possessions behind.
“Yesterday, several residents of the Brits district went back to the farm to get the rest of the family’s goods. When we got there, we saw the family’s entire house was looted. We only wanted to take the most valuable items, but when we stood there we wondered what to take because everything was looted,” said Grobbelaar. The farmer could not return to the farm again for fear of his safety.
Grobbelaar said she was also in the dark about the alleged shooting incident and could not confirm whether or not it had happened. However, she will go to the police during the week to determine how the investigation into this matter is proceeding.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Maroela Media
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