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Farmer André Pienaar, accused of being one of the instigators of Tuesday’s assault on the Senekal Magistrates Court in Free State, faces a series of very serious charges.
Pienaar was arrested on Wednesday, following the chaos that ensued in the court appearance the day before of suspects in the murder of 22-year-old Rouxville farm manager Brendin Horner, whose body was discovered tied to a pole, with several stab wounds and to the head. injuries last weekend.
Pienaar submitted a request for bail, with a heavy police presence outside the building since early Friday morning. He was initially expected to face charges of intentional damage to property and public violence.
Netwerk24 reported that the state opposed Pienaar’s request and added charges of attempted murder, as well as incitement to violence and terrorism to the file on Friday afternoon.
The bail request is not expected to be completed by Friday afternoon, meaning Pienaar will likely spend the weekend behind bars.
Read more: Photos and video: Shots, as police and farmers collide outside the court case for murder on a farm
This follows Tuesday’s initially peaceful protest, which ultimately caused a police vehicle to be overturned and set ablaze, and a few hundred irate farmers damaged court property. This was due to their attempt to reach the suspects, Sekwetje Mahlamba and Sekola Matlaletsa, after the case against them was postponed to next week on Friday.
The attempted murder charges stem from Pienaar allegedly wanting to set fire to the holding cells, where the defendants in Horner’s murder were held.
In the video of the protest (above), taken by The citizen Photographer Tracy Lee Stark, Pienaar can be seen inciting the crowd before things escalated into violence, and calling for justice from the mob, arguing that the legal system would simply have the suspects released.
The police try to maintain order outside the Senekal Magistrates Court. Image: Tracy Lee Stark
“In a month, we will hear about this again,” Pienaar told the crowd as he stood in the back of a bakkie, addressing them over loudspeakers.
“Your own daughter could be raped. That man is so mutilated that he will have to be cremated because his father does not want to bury him, ”he says, referring to Horner.
“Violence is rooted out with violence, and this is what people are asking for,” he later says to cheers from the crowd, before asking for support to help him get the two men out of the court’s holding cells. You can hear a woman’s voice encouraging him out loud.
Read more: Whites don’t play, says Malema as Popcru beats ‘rebel’ protesters in front of Senekal’s court
In another video, he is seen standing out from the crowd, saying that he may not have a brain (pointing to his head), but that he has strength, and urging those around him to join him.
AfriForum’s Ernst Roets, who was also at the protest, similarly criticized the failures of the legal system in dealing with farm killings, and seemed to suggest that the government, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, was not taking up the issue in I laughed.
He, however, was more measured in his approach, urging farmers to support him in his quest to get the message about farm killings out to the world, while calling for strength.
Soon after, it appears that Pienaar, who farms on the outskirts of the nearby town of Marquard, had found enough supporters to help him execute his bid for popular justice.
A group of farmers broke into the building, smashed the window bars, overturned a police vehicle and prevented another police vehicle from entering the premises.
Shots were also fired, and the police and farmers blamed each other for this.
One of the farmers who attacked The citizenreporter and photographer, damaging his equipment and assaulting one of the women. Image: Tracy Lee Stark
Read more: Journos attacked in Senekal court chaos as farmers wreak havoc
During the fight, The citizenThe reporter and the photographer were also attacked and their equipment was damaged.
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