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Andre Pienaar appears at the Senekal Magistrates Court.
PHOTO: Alex Mitchley / News24
- Andre Pienaar was arrested and charged with attempted murder, public violence and incitement to violence.
- A previous charge of terrorism was dropped after the National Director of the Public Ministry did not authorize the charge.
- Pienaar is not a farmer as previously reported, but the owner of a construction business in Senekal.
The 51-year-old man who was arrested after the riots in Senekal’s Court of First Instance has been denied bail.
Andre Pienaar, who appeared before Senekal Magistrates Court on Tuesday, has been charged with attempted murder, public violence and incitement to violence.
A previous charge of terrorism was dropped after the National Director of the Public Ministry refused to authorize the charge.
Pienaar, who is not a farmer but an owner of a construction business in Senekal, previously said that he would plead not guilty to all charges.
Upon sentencing, Judge Buti Mlangeni spoke harsh words for the defendant and found that Pienaar had not presented a sufficient case to be released on bail.
Mlangeni said Pienaar clearly tried to jeopardize the criminal case and the investigation.
He said that during the brief time Pienaar was in custody, he was able to identify witnesses who could exonerate him.
“This was a deliberate attempt to jeopardize a criminal investigation,” Mlangeni said.
The magistrate discovered that, if released, Pienaar could interfere with witnesses.
Mlangeni added that the gravity of the crimes Pienaar is accused of justified the limitation of his freedoms.
This included the alleged assault on a female police officer, which the court said was related to gender-based violence issues in the country.
The court determined that there was a high probability that Pienaar would disturb law and order if he was released on bail and that he would provoke a public outcry.
Pienaar’s wife began to cry after the magistrate rendered the verdict and claimed that people were laughing at her.
Mlangeni said:
He has shown no respect for law and order.
Bail arguments
During the bail request, the State argued that Pienaar had attended a farmers’ meeting prior to the court appearance of the two men accused of murdering 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner.
There, he is accused of inciting the crowd to fetch the defendant Horner from the court holding cells.
Subsequently, chaos broke out when a small group of people broke into the court building. A police vehicle was overturned and allegedly set on fire during the altercation.
SEE | Police van burned as farmers raid holding cells for accused Brendin Horner murder
The attempted murder charge stems from allegations that the defendant attempted to set fire to the detention cells and fired the two shots that were fired in court.
However, the investigating officer in the matter stated in the bail request that he did not know who fired the shots.
Furthermore, it was recorded in the court file that Pienaar had attacked the two defendants in the Horner case with a flat iron bar that he had used to enter the cells.
The State said that the two defendants in the Horner affair were injured and later taken to hospital for treatment.
However, according to the defense, they have two witnesses who were also in the holding cells who would testify that Pienaar was not part of the action.
The defense further argued that there was no evidence connecting Pienaar to some of the acts that unfolded in court last week.
The State replied that the common purpose doctrine would be used to connect the accused with the alleged crimes.
In addition, it was recorded that there are several witness statements that implicate Pienaar.
The matter was postponed until November 20.
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