Bail of R15 000 has been granted to an 80-year-old doctor and farmer from Kroonstad, who is facing several charges, including murder, after a body was discovered in a shallow grave on his farm.
By Vida Booysen, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Mojalefa Senokoatsane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), confirmed that bail was granted on Friday, 5 September. The case has been postponed until 9 October for further investigation.
The doctor’s minor grandson, who was also arrested in connection with the incident, had earlier been released into the care of his parents. The doctor and his wife were victims of a farm attack in 2016. Their names are being withheld to protect the identity of the minor grandson.
According to Netwerk24, the Kroonstad Magistrate’s Court on Thursday refused to accept two widely circulated videos as evidence. Public prosecutor Thapelo Kgabiginyane said the recordings reflected the doctor’s version of events following the fatal shooting on the farm, in which 25-year-old Thabo Mashiya from Lesotho died.
The defence argued, however, that the recordings – made and distributed by the EFF, among others – had been taken out of context and endangered the minor.
Advocate Roelof van Wyk, representing the doctor, submitted an affidavit in which the accused denied all charges against him.
Also read: Body found on Kroonstad farm: Man (80) arrested
Missing Man Found in Shallow Grave
The arrests followed the discovery of a body on the doctor’s farm between Kroonstad and Welkom on 20 August, after a tip-off from someone in the local community. The remains, later confirmed as those of Thabo Mashiya, were found in an advanced state of decomposition in a shallow grave. DNA samples were taken to verify his identity.
Mashiya had been reported missing on 11 July, after allegedly walking across the farm with four other men. Shots were reportedly fired, one›› man was wounded, and the other men fled. A Bloemfontein task force followed up on leads that led them to the farm.
The doctor and his grandson now face charges of murder, attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, conspiracy to commit murder, and discharging a firearm within a municipal area. According to Senokoatsane, two of these charges, attempted murder and discharging a firearm, relate only to the doctor, stemming from a separate incident in August when farm workers allegedly asked him to intervene in a domestic dispute.
The state initially opposed bail, describing the doctor as “reckless and dangerous”.
Senokoatsane emphasised that the NPA in the Free State remains committed to ensuring that those accused of serious crimes are prosecuted, while upholding the principles of justice and the rights of all parties.
