Groblersdal – Attempted murder accused 63-year-old farmer Piet Groenewald and his 27-year-old son Stephen Greef were remanded in custody by the Groblersdal Magistrate’s Court in Groblersdal, Limpopo, on Wednesday (31 January 2024).
The father and son will remain behind bars until Wednesday next week (7 February 2024), when their adjourned bail application will resume.
Groenewald and Greef are charged with attempted murder.
In a case that is believed to be racially motivated, the pair is accused of severely assaulting their 30-year-old security employee Veneruru Kavari before setting their vicious dogs on him.
Groenewald and Greef also allegedly injected Kavari with an unknown substance.
Allegations are that Kavari reported on duty under the influence of alcohol and armed with a panga.
Groenewald and Greef are alleged to have assaulted Kavari and set their dogs on him.
Opposing bail for the accused father and son, police investigating officer Detective Constable Gregory Malesenya told the court that witnesses were receiving threats on their mobile phones from unknown people believed to be closer to the accused.
He said releasing Groenewald and Greef on bail would place the lives of witnesses in danger.
Detective Constable Malesenya said the lives of the accused would also be in danger because the case against them had angered the community.
He said another reason to deny the pair bail was the initial investigations revealed that the dogs had bitten the complainant, Kavari, at least five times.
During the bail hearing it emerged that Groenewald had previous convictions, including attempted murder.
Earlier, defence lawyer Advocate Johan van Wyk told the court that the accused deserved to be granted bail and if released they would not threaten witnesses or complainants.
Advocate Van Wyk said if released the accused would spend most of their time on the farm and their lives wouldn’t be in danger.
The lawyer said the farm was safe because it was “well” monitored using surveillance cameras.
In addition, there were guard dogs at the farm.
However, Detective Constable Malesenya disputed any assertions that the farm was a safe place to be.
He said investigations revealed that the cameras were not working and the guard dogs were not well-trained to provide security.
Detective Constable Malesenya said the farm was “completely unsafe”.
During the hearing police were stationed inside and outside the court.
Police Minister Bheki Cele and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola were in attendance, signaling the seriousness of the case.
Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabathe and provincial police senior officials were also in attendance.
Addressing the media outside the court, Police Minister Cele, said: “We believe the law must take its course.
“Nobody must disrespect other citizens and break the law.
“If people don’t respect the law, we will then have to enforce the law.
“As the police minister, I believe that we just need to respect the law and allow the process until it reaches the end.”
Members of various political parties including the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters, and African Christian Democratic Party came out in their numbers to support Kavari.
They made it clear they wanted the court to deny the accused bail.
The matter was adjourned to next week and the pair were remanded in custody.
