Klerksdorp parking lot brawler charged with murder

Wernich Botha – the man accused of killing Hilton Pretorius in a bloody parking lot brawl in Klerksdorp – was formally charged with murder in the town's magistrate's court on Thursday. 

Botha was initially charged with attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, after video footage of the vicious assaults went viral.

Pretorius, who suffered a significant head injury from a single blow, died in Tshepong Hospital on 20 September after spending weeks in the ICU. Botha left the country to return to his job in Somalia three days after Pretorius died.