Community members unhappy after farmer accused of attempted murder was granted bail

Some protesters in Lephalale, Limpopo, have expressed concern that the local magistrate’s court has granted bail of a thousand rand to a 77-year-old farmer accused of shooting and wounding a 38-year-old woman.

The accused, Paul Hendriks, is facing a charge of attempted murder.

Hendriks allegedly shot and wounded Lenah Lefowane after he claimed to have mistaken her for a hippo in a river.

The victim was fishing with her husband when the alleged incident happened.

The husband was not hurt.

Some people say the justice system is letting down victims of violence and alleged racial abuse.

“Re bona okare (we think  that) the justice system has been captured by the white people who will go around shooting at our people [and] compare them to animals. There’s no difference between the apartheid era and so-called democracy by the ruling party, because ‘motho o motsho a be a thiya hlapi nokeng” (black people were fishing along the river) there is no fairness in this case,” say some of the community members.

Daniel Malan, Cornelius Greyling, Othard Klingberg and Michael Sternberg are accused of shooting at a group of job seekers at a farm.