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Farmers and EFF supporters clashed in a tense confrontation in Senekal on Friday when two suspects appeared in the murder of 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner.
Senekal was once again the scene of tense protests on Friday when the EFF and farmer groups gathered for the bail hearing of Sekwetje Mahlamba, 32, and Sekola Matlaletsa, 44, charged with the murder of Brendin Horner, 21 years old. on October 1 in Paul Roux, Free State.
A group of about 200 farmers gathered on the lawn of the Padstal restaurant on the outskirts of Senekal on Friday morning and knelt to pray for an end to the violence on the farms. The group, some of whom had guns on their hips, then got up and sang Stem.
EFF supporters began gathering early in the morning in front of the Senekal Magistrates Court and party marshals lined the side streets of Van Riebeeck Street to act as a barricade between a group of farmers two blocks away. Then a group of EFF supporters surrounded the block to confront the farmers, chanting “Kill the Boer” and yelling insults.
Debbie Els from a group called Stop Farm Murders addressed the group of farmers from a bakkie.
“We will not be intimidated by a thuggish political party, the EFF. We tell them to keep going. What happens happens. We know what Malema, the chief instigator of the violence, said. We will not be fooled by fear, ”said Els, who traveled from Cape Town for the event.
Petrus Sitho, from East London, had chained himself hand and foot.
“We are gathered here for one purpose, to try to end farm killings and save our economy,” Sitho said.
“All the farmers and farm workers who are killed by this corrupt government, rest in peace.”
There was a significant police presence in the city, with nyalas and a water cannon on standby, but they kept a low profile as barbed wire barricades separated the small group of farmers and some 2,000 people who had gathered to support the EFF.
A group of former commandos, who used to be employed to help work with the police in rural areas before their disbandment in the early 2000s and who wore their uniforms, formed a line next to the barbed wire as the leaders of the EFF were heading to the party in a truck 100 meters away.
Photo / Shiraaz Mohamed
EFF members began to move towards farmers, chanting in isiZulu for the “doors to open”. The farmers advanced towards the barricade but the EFF supporters kept their distance. Then the farmers broke away from the crowd and ran down the street.
A group of EFFs had rounded the block to confront the farmers. Marshals fought to contain party members who were face to face with various farmers while others chanted “shoot, shoot, shoot” and chant “dubula” and “Kill the Boer.”
SAPS intervened to defuse the situation, but nearby, the group of farmers on the outskirts of the city had been detained by the police as they tried to cross the city center. EFF supporters gathered to confront them, but former party spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi intervened to calm the crowd.
“We are here to take the land,” said an EFF supporter, who then threw a stone at the group of farmers.
While protests were continuing at the time of this writing, the situation was tense, with some stones thrown and garbage cans overturned, but leaders of both the peasant groups and the EFF were trying to maintain order.
Before the court hearing, EFF leader Julius Malema told his followers that they must march before he returned.
“This is your city. March everywhere, ”he said.
“Since the government of Cyril Ramaphosa is afraid to act decisively, we are alone. The next apparition, all ground forces and peace-loving South Africans will be present in defense of our democracy and property, ”Malema said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Thursday.
He said police had treated farmers who protested the week before with kid gloves.
“We are not going to fight anyone. We go there peacefully, but you push, we push. We will not shoot anyone, we will not provoke anyone ”.
News 24 reported that within court, where assistance was limited due to Covid-19 restrictions, both murder suspects had requested bail. According to the state, the police recovered bloody pants from Mahlamba’s deep freezer, which they denied. Police arrested Mahlamba and Matlaletsa after they allegedly bragged about attacking a white man while they were drinking in a tavern.
Mahlamba has claimed that he was with his girlfriend the night of Horner’s murder, but the state said it had a statement from her saying they were not together the entire night, News24 reported. Mahlamba and Matlaletsa claim to be innocent.
Malema, leader of the EFF, was in court on Friday. The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the Minister of State Security, Ayanda Dlodlo, also attended.
Mahlamba and Matlaletsa briefly appeared in Senekal Magistrates Court a week earlier. 1,000 farmers reportedly gathered in court to demand that the police act on the attacks on the farms. A smaller group stormed the court, overturned one police vehicle and set another on fire.
Before the court appearance on Friday, police barricaded the entrances to Senekal and searched vehicles for firearms.
When police closed the area Thursday night, Senekal resident Maria Jonker, who lives near the courthouse, complained about the arrival shock.
“They don’t care how we feel about all of this. What will happen after everyone has left? This is unnecessary. We are a small and peaceful city and we don’t need all this, ”he said.
“This one is terrible. Now tomorrow I have to close my store and that is not fair. I am a single mother with three children to feed. How am I supposed to feed my children when my store is closed?”
The bond hearing continues. DM
