Loedie van der Westhuizen, 73, apparently hit and injured himself with a broomstick while trying to chase two men off his farm, before he pressed a panic button.

Some of the 40 men, most of them farmers, who were present when Van der Westhuizen’s two alleged attackers were beaten to death on January 6, had made statements to police.

“I’m not going to jail for someone else’s actions,” one of them reportedly said.

On Tuesday, another three farmers were arrested in connection with the murders.

Those farmers who responded to the apparent farm attack were suspected of involvement in the deaths of Samuel Tjixa and Simon Jubeba. This was why some of them had come forward and made statements. Five or six men assaulted Tjixa and Jubeba so severely that they died of their injuries.

Tjixa and Jubeba went to Van der Westhuizen’s farm to get salaries his son, Boeta, owed them, Netwerk24 reported.

Boeta was one of the first farmers arrested in connection with the murders.

Two of those arrested on Tuesday were apparently related to Boeta van der Westhuizen and Anton Loggenberg, another of the accused.

The three were expected to appear in the Parys Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and then again on Friday, with the other eight accused.

Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, said the three men were aged between 18 and 22. He said they had full confidence in their investigation.

-News24.com