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Assault charges dropped against Kroonstad farmer Chris Grobler and foreman Eugene Lloyd – lack of evidence

010-06-16 Volksblad journalist Johan Brits reports from Koppies magistrate’s court in the Free State that charges were dropped against Kroonstad farmer Chris Grobler, 23 and his foreman Eugene Lloyd because it could not be proven that they had assaulted and injured a suspected farm-attacker Leeu Monyamane, 43, who lodged the charges against the agriculturalists after they had disarmed him and handed him over into SAPS custody.

Brits reports that the ‘State was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt’ that Grobler and Lloyd had assaulted Monyamane during the citizen’s arrest in March.” Magistrate Neels de la Rey then withdrew the charges. The farmer’s father Christo Grobler told Volksblad earlier that his son had called the SAPS to his farm when Monyama, a former worker, had made trouble on his farm Labri. The next evening Monyamane returned, looking for trouble again – and pulled out a knife, stabbing towards Grobler junior. However the young farmer had taken the knife away from the worker by tossing him on the ground. During the fall Monyamane broke his had and injured some ribs. Monyamane then lodged charges against Grobler jr. at the Heuningspruit police station and the two white men were arrested, spent the night in the Koppies police cells and were released on R500 bail each the next day. During their night in detention, the Heuningspruit police station commander Captain Thenjiwe Khumbeni had taken sides against the Afrikaner agriculturalists and openly supported a large assembled crowd from the local community who showed up to demonstrate. The public prosecutor was Ms Adele Lekgetho. http://www.volksblad.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Boer-voorman-vrygespreek-20100616