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Sole survivor of Piet Retief farm killing in hiding as alleged attackers get bail

The eight men implicated in the killing of two Piet Retief men on the Pampoenkraal farm last year have been granted bail of R10,000 each. Stock photo.
The eight men implicated in the killing of two Piet Retief men on the Pampoenkraal farm last year have been granted bail of R10,000 each. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/BELCHONOK

A family whose son was allegedly beaten to death on a Piet Retief farm and had another narrowly escape with his life have voiced their despair after the Mpumalanga high court granted bail to his alleged killers.

Eight men arrested and charged with the murder of Sifiso Thwala and his friend Musa Nene successfully applied for bail on Thursday in the high court after initially being denied bail by the Piet Retief magistrate's court.

Zenzele Yende, Werner Potgieter, Eliot Dlamini, Moses Dlamini, Cornelius Greyling, Sikhumbuzo Zikalala, Mzwakhe Dlamini and Nkosinathi Msibi — facing charges of  kidnapping, murder and attempted murder — were each released on bail of R10,000.

Nomalanga Thwala said the life of her other brother Sthembiso Thwala was again in limbo. 

Thwala witnessed the death of his brother and friend. He survived by pretending to be dead, until the police arrived. 

Thwala told SowetanLIVE's sister publication the Sunday Times previously that he feared for his life, being the sole survivor. He had left Piet Retief and was in hiding, adding that he hoped the arrest and conviction of his attackers would bring back some normality to his life.

On Friday, Nomalanga said the family was despondent. “We have lost hope already if, even before the trial has begun, such things [the granting of bail] are happening,” she said.

The biggest blow had been for Sthembiso. “He now has to go under police protection because we were thinking that he has some sort of relief, but he had to go back into hiding,” said Nomalanga.

She said with the alleged attackers behind bars, he had been able to return home twice to visit.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said bail was granted to the accused on condition that they surrendered their passports to the investigating officer and attended the case until it was finalised.

“They will appear in Piet Retief magistrate's court on July 23 for indictment,” Nyuswa said.

Explaining what had happened, Thwala said he, his brother and friend were travelling on a public dirt road that runs next to the Pampoenkraal farm in August 2020. They experienced car trouble and were approached by farm workers who accused them of stealing livestock.

He said they were beaten, shocked with cattle prods and pepper-sprayed.

“I was lying motionless like the other two, though I could hear everything happening around me. The next morning ... someone came and checked on us. I heard him tell another person that he thinks we are dead. A while later the police arrived, and that is when I made movement,” Thwala told the Sunday Times.

Their case had not made it to court until April, when brothers Zenzele and Mgcini Coka were allegedly murdered on the same farm. 

The Coka case is expected to be back in court on the same day that the Thwala and Nene case returns, on July 23. 

TimesLIVE


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