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Middelburg – The two men who allegedly forced Victor Mlotshwa into a coffin will have to wait until Thursday to learn if they can spend Christmas at home.
Middelburg Magistrate Jongilizwe Dumehleli on Friday postponed Theo Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen’s bail application to next week.
Friday marked the second day of their application. The court heard that another farmer in the Blinkpan area had received threatening SMSes from an anonymous sender.
Police commander in the area, Enrico Giorgiutti, read the SMS to the court.
Part of the it read: "… u put our bro in cofin using your manager nw were after u silly michel.. watch the space it's closer than what you think viva bloodshed.
"Get ready the battle is on and your family michel viva bloodshed we rap your wife fuck u." (all sic)
Giorgiutti said the farmer opened a case on Tuesday. He said whoever sent the SMS seemed to be angry.
Defence lawyer John Welch read out Jackson and Oosthuizen's affidavits, which they had deposed in support of their applications.
They said their actions were "negligible" and that they did not mean any harm. They said they could each afford to pay R5 000 bail and assured the court that they would not interfere with witnesses or Mlotshwa.
They are facing charges of kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
'Will satisfy the public'
However, prosecutor Robert Molokoane said: "Keeping them in custody will satisfy the public.
"It is a shock to see a man being put in a coffin."
On Thursday, investigating officer Detective Constable Dimakatso Bahula testified that Mlotshwa was kicked all over his body and that his hands were bound with a cable.
Bahula told the court that, on August 17, Mlotshwa had left his place of residence in a local informal settlement and noticed two Land Cruisers following him. She said the bakkies stopped and the two men had assaulted Victor and kicked him without any explanation.
Jackson and Oosthuizen previously abandoned an initial bail bid.
They alleged assaulted Mlotshwa at the JM de Beer Boerdery, next to the Komati power station in Mpumalanga.
In a 20-second video of the incident, which was posted on YouTube on November 7, one man, speaking in Afrikaans, forces Mlotshwa into a coffin and threatens to pour petrol on him. Mlotshwa can be heard wailing in terror as the coffin’s lid is closed on him.
