Following a year of investigations by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the seven police officers at the centre of the allegations are continuing to battle the assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm charge laid against them in the Edenburg Magistrate's Court.

The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Phaladi Shuping, has said that a trial date is imminent. Early last week the Edenburg Magistrate's Court issued warrants of arrests for the Trompsburg Police Station commander and a sergeant for failing to appear in court for the same case. Shuping said the case has been postponed to 9 September for a trial date.

In October 2017 one of the hitchhikers, Lerato Edgar Mokotso, told OFM News that he and three other people were hitchhiking on the N1 outside Trompsburg, heading to Edenburg. They got a lift in a white panel van, which was stopped by police shortly after they left the hiking spot. The group was fingered for a robbery at a local furniture store.

They allege police assaulted them while they were in custody before releasing them for wrongful arrest later the same day. The case was referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) for investigation and they in turn charged the group.

Mokotso has informed OFM News of his intentions to sue the state for the injustice he has suffered at the hands of local law enforcement.

OFM News