'Ermelo farmer accused of driving over children tried to save my child from drowning', says farmworker

22 July 2022 - 07:00 By Hendrik Hancke
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Louis Grobler is accused of running over two children with his vehicle and assaulting a third at his farm in Ermelo, Mpumalanga.
Louis Grobler is accused of running over two children with his vehicle and assaulting a third at his farm in Ermelo, Mpumalanga.
Image: Mandla Khoza

A man who has worked as a farm labourer for the Ermelo farmer accused of driving after and running over children on his farm scoffed when asked if his employer was racist.

“Racist? This man? Ai wena, there is no chance,” said the worker who has been in  Louis Grobler's employ the past eight years. 

“On 10 January this year my child fell into a dam on this farm. I was on my way to the farm on a tractor when I received the call,” said the father, 29, who did not want to be identified. “We could not find my son and then we called Louis. When he arrived, he was the one who risked his life and went into the water and found my son.”

The man people are now calling a racist repeatedly pushed on my son’s chest and fought to save him. He even gave him mouth to mouth. How does a racist give a black child mouth to mouth?
Employee of Louis Grobler

The father stares off into the distance.

“The man people are now calling a racist repeatedly pushed on my son’s chest and fought to save him. He even gave him mouth to mouth. How does a racist give a black child mouth to mouth [resuscitation]?”

His son did not make it. Grobler handled the funeral arrangements.

“He paid for the funeral because I did not have the money.”

The father said he had a close relationship with Grobler, who for the past few days has been in jail and is expected back in the Ermelo magistrate's court on Friday. 

“When I have troubles he is the best shoulder to cry on. Louis is always open to requests for help from all of us who work for him.”

The father is not the only Grobler employee who feels this way.

Eleven of Grobler’s labourers met TimesLIVE on the farm.

“We are angry. We want to tell the court Louis is a good man,” a 69-year-old employee said.

A 29-year old farm labourer who has worked for Louis Grobler for the past eight years says he lost a child earlier this year through drowning but that 'the man people are now calling a racist repeatedly pushed on my son’s chest and fought to save him'.
A 29-year old farm labourer who has worked for Louis Grobler for the past eight years says he lost a child earlier this year through drowning but that 'the man people are now calling a racist repeatedly pushed on my son’s chest and fought to save him'.
Image: Ziphozonke Lushaba/TimesLIVE

“I started working for Louis’ father in 1990. I know him from when he was very young. There is nothing racist about him. When my father passed, Louis paid for the funeral. If I have money troubles, Louis is always available to help. He even gave the children money when they needed it. Now we are very worried about the future.”

He said Grobler sometimes became angry, but never in a racist manner.

“He would get angry like any boss or normal person, but I have never heard him say ugly things like the k-word,” he said.

A 37-year-old colleague said: “This is a good man. Whatever problems we face, he is always available to help; he will sort it out. Sometimes with money and sometimes just with advice.”

“We are very unhappy that he is in jail because of an accident. We know it was an accident because Louis would not run over children on purpose.”

A 22-year-old seasonal worker chimed in: “I work part time when the season is busy. Even to me Louis has been kind. Last week he paid for me to get electricity. With him in jail, I don’t know what I will do when this power runs out.”

A 37-year-old farmworker said Grobler also lent him money. “Louis bought me three cars that I paid off. He bought me a Uno, a Jetta and a Toyota. Louis paid for each car and I repaid him without interest.”

When asked who in the group of 11 labourers owned cars paid for by Grobler, five more men raised their hands. One said Grobler had helped him acquire two cars.

Meanwhile, Grobler has told the court that he did not mean to injure the three children.

Eleven of Louis Grobler's farm labourers vouched for his conduct as an employer.
Eleven of Louis Grobler's farm labourers vouched for his conduct as an employer.
Image: Ziphozonke Lushaba/TimesLIVE

Speaking through his lawyer Mario Jungbluth during his bail application on Wednesday, he said: “I categorically deny that I attempted to murder the girls. While I was driving, the victims emerged from nowhere. I applied brakes but they were injured.”

Grobler said he called the police and an ambulance after the incident.

But the state alleges that the 41-year-old farmer had accused the three children, aged 10, 11 and 13, of stealing mielies from his farm.

He was arrested last Friday, hours after the incident, where he was then charged with two counts of attempted murder and one of assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm.

Mpumalanga National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the state was opposing bail “due to the seriousness of the offences the accused is charged with. It's a schedule 5 offence.”

While the father of one of the victims insists that Grobler intentionally ran over his child and her friends, PSIRA-registered independent forensic investigator Paul Koen who visited the scene with TimesLIVE said evidence suggested the incident was an accident. 

“The children were allegedly hiding in the unharvested mielies and ran out directly in front of the bakkie,” Koen told TimesLIVE. He pointed out the 10m-long brake marks left by Grobler's bakkie in the muddy soil, which he said he measured on Tuesday.

TimesLIVE conducted a brake test on the scene. Driving at a mere 20km/h it took a 4x4 bakkie about 2m to slide to a halt after an emergency stop.

At the scene of the incident, according to Koen, the point of impact is less than 2m from the unharvested maize where the children were allegedly hiding.

“This means any version that indicates Mr Grobler chased the alleged victims for some distance does not make sense,” Koen said.

*The labourers did not want to be identified for fear of victimisation.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.