Afrikaner farmer Bertus Moolman allegedly shoots dead two black men in Fochville; injures a third: witnessed by a police contingent, the Afrikaner allegedly allegedly fired five shots into a rioting, stone-throwing crowd who were threatening him and his workers, said SAPS:
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Monday 26 Aug 2013 - In an stone-throwing altercation between socalled 'tenants' and Afrikaner farmer Bertus Moolman on a farm next to the Bank Road outside Fochville, at the Carletonville mining region) he allegedly fired shots with a shotgun, shooting dead two black men and injuring a third who were throwing stones at Moolman and his workers. It is believed that the violent altercation took place over purported damage one of his victims had allegedly done to one of Mr Moolman's shebeens and spaza-shops. The police said Mr Moolman owns 'several spaza shops and shebeens' and rents out space to about 2,000 black squatters on his farm - mostly mineworkers.
SAPS lt.col Hennie Maass of the Fochville SAPS confirmed that Mr Moolman will be charged with two murders and attempted murder. The shots were fired after Mr Moolman went to talk to a man together with his worker. One of the workers had allegedly assaulted one man with a stock and in response, a group of 'tenants' started throwing stones at them. "Moolman allegedly fired five shots at the men who are tenants on his farm,' said lt-col Maass. This was witnessed by a contingent of SAPS-members who had been called to the farm by Mr Moolman, he said.There had already been unrelatedunrest at the farm the previous weekend when a black man was murdered by an unknown person and people became 'riotous' and packed a stone-barrier on the road on Sunday, said the police officer. One of Moolman's shebeens (pub) was also damaged on that day.
Moolman told Beeld newspaper that he was forced to shoot in self-defence. "Some of the tenants became riotous when we went to talk to the man who, we'd been told, had damaged the shebeen,' he said. "The crowd threw us with stones and if I hadn't shot, we would all have died.' He said he carried a 9mm pistol and his shotgun with him.
Beeld questioned Louis Nel, a Fochville resident who informed the Afrikaans daily newspaper that Mr Moolman had been renting out land for housing mineworkers for the past twenty years. "They raise their own structures. It creates a lot of problems for the community, as the miners then sublet the land again to others,' said Mr Nel.
They have even built 'an informal electrical substation from stones, making 'several connections to the Eskom power cables'.
Beeld also quoted one of Mr Moolman's tenants as saying that there had been several rapes and thefts in the area. "We are holding a protest march about this, we are sick and tired of it,' she said.
Eighty-year-old farmer Danie Oberholzer's erf borders Moolman's land.
"I don't feel safe and I am feeling so hopeless because I cannot afford to move as my land isn't worth anything, it's such a mess,' he told Beeld. http://www.beeld.com/nuus/2013-08-26-huurders-geskiet-boer-vas
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