Farm workers come under fire

Tension between farmers and people living on their land flared again this week, after two shootings of workers.

In Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, yesterday, farmer Valdo Webber, 59, appeared in court on three counts of attempted murder and the mishandling of a firearm after he allegedly shot and wounded two sisters and a baby.

Near Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday, pressure mounted on police to arrest a farmer, who allegedly shot dead a man he mistook for a dog.

Webber was released on R1000 bail and his case was postponed to August 18 for further investigation.

Webber allegedly shot at five family members, including a baby, who live on his farm. The injured were identified as Liefie Nkosi, 16, her elder sister Busisiwe Vundla, 28, and Vundla's 11-month-old daughter.

Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Hlathi said the five were returning home from a wedding in Thandukukhanya township near Piet Retief at about 7.30pm.

"They were travelling in a taxi. Instead of dropping them off at their residence, the driver dropped them off next to the farmer's house," he said.

Hlathi said that when the farmer saw the vehicle's lights, and heard their voices he "fired a shot in the direction of the voices with his shotgun". The "baby was shot in the back of the head while her mother was hit in the back and ear. The teenage sister sustained back and left eye injuries."

The were taken to a nearby hospital and discharged on Monday.

In KwaZulu-Natal, farm tenants in Normandien called for a full-scale inquiry and the arrest of the owner of Doornpoort farm.

Sipho Mbatha was shot dead on Sunday morning and an 11-year-old boy with him escaped unharmed.

It is alleged that the farmer, who was not named, responded to a call about illegal hunting when he spotted and shot at what he thought were a pack of hunting dogs.

Inspecting the scene, he saw Mbatha lying dead in long grass. Mbatha had two bullet wounds in his forehead.

It is alleged that the farmer did not report the incident to the police himself, but asked his brother to go to the police station as he was too traumatised to do so.

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said yesterday an investigation was under way.

Mbatha's eldest son, Siphamandla, said: "If my father was involved in illegal hunting, the farmer should have called the police instead of killing him."

Mangaliso Kubheka, of the Landless People's Movement, who is also an ANC councillor in Newcastle, said: "The situation is getting out of hand as people believe that they have to fight back against the farmer."

Johan Burger, of the Institute for Security Studies, said farmers were under pressure and many felt threatened after a spate of farm attacks.

"One can at times act the way they do because they have the security of their families and workers in mind."

Burger said farmers could take extreme measures to protect themselves and those on their properties because "some were killed in a horrendous way".