Torched farm the work of ‘criminals’
AN ESHOWE 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 yesterday morning.
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‚ allegedly shot dead by a security guard while gathering bait on a farm adjacent to his home.
It is understood the community from which Xulu hails is frustrated by the slow pace of the prosecution of 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.
Farmer Donald Saint is believed to have fled his property on which he has farmed for about a decade‚ on Sunday afternoon before the attack. He declined to comment.
Another farmer‚ who did not want to be named‚ said that criminality was at the core of the farm attack.
“People must call it what it is. This farmer had nothing to do with the man who was shot and now his home is reduced to nothing.
“This is the action of criminals who wanted to loot and take what they could.”
Police spokesman Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that the home had been set ablaze by the crowd‚ who also stole a bakkie which had been parked on the farm.
eShowe-Entumeni Farmers’ Association chairman Craig Hambury-King could not be reached for comment.
Yesterday, the situation remained tense‚ with a crowd amassing at the entrance to the township on the R66 as a strong police contingent looked on.