Two men arrested for Eshowe farm violence

Eshowe police arrested two men believed to be linked to a wave of civil disobedience after a farmhouse was looted and razed by fire at the weekend.

A farmer‚ fearing for his life‚ managed to flee his home just hours before it was overrun by a mob of rioters on Sunday night.

The true extent of a night of unrest‚ vandalism and looting was revealed as the sun rose over the farming community in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Monday morning.

The Gratton Farm‚ on the fringes of the township of Umlalazi‚ was torched‚ with the farmer’s home razed by fire and a workshop vandalised.

The protest action follows the March slaying of subsistence fisherman Siphamandla Xulu‚ shot and killed by a security guard while gathering bait on a farm adjacent to his home.

It is understood that the community from which Xulu hails is frustrated by the slow pace of the prosecution of security guard Walter Magwaza‚ the man alleged to have pulled the trigger. Magwaza is awaiting trial and is in custody‚ having abandoned an earlier bid for bail.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said police had conducted a swoop acting on intelligence.

“Two suspects aged 26 and 38 were arrested for arson‚ theft of motor vehicle and malicious damage to property.”

“The case was opened at Eshowe police station and suspects were arrested. They will appear in the Eshowe Magistrates’ Court soon.”