The state prosecutor informed Magistrate Amos Moos that the state sought to add a charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) against all suspects, who now faces four charges. 

The case emanates from another adjacent case currently in court where three people were allegedly kidnapped and assaulted after being accused of crime around the area. On Tuesday, the nine suspects appeared in court for a formal bail hearing but the case was postponed to Monday 13 December 2021 after they all furnished the court with their founding affidavits. They all plead not guilty and they have implored the court to release them out on bail due to their varying personal circumstances.  

Last week, OFM News reported that the State Prosecutor added a charge of kidnapping to the docket. These nine suspects were nabbed by the police after a body of an individual who was previously reported as missing, was dug up outside Wepener. The state alleges that the deceased, whose body was retrieved outside Wepener, was kidnapped, murdered, and then buried after an act of vigilantism by the suspects in question.

OFM News previously reported that according to the Free State police spokesperson, Thabo Covane, the body which was dug up by the police, is believed to be of one of the three males that were kidnapped and assaulted by a group of people at the Caledon River on the Jammerdrift Farm on 24 September 2021.

On Tuesday, scores of angry residents protested outside the court premises as they demanded that the nine suspects be released on bail. They say the suspects are their heroes.

OFM News