The four men charged with murder after 35-year-old Nicky Janse van Rensburg was shot dead from Roedtan appear in court today.

The trial of Albert Mangena, Malesela Mangena, Lesiba Solly Segwale and Morwantsiri Justice Mashiane will take place in the High Court in Pietersburg from today until 7 June.

The four men are facing murder charges after 35-year-old Nico ‘Nicky’ Janse van Rensburg van Roedtan was attacked on the farm Derdekraal in the Roedtan area on Friday afternoon, 7 October 2022. The robbers detained a teenage boy who also lived on the farm while they awaited Janse van Rensburg and his girlfriend, Veronica Grobler. Janse van Rensburg was shot during a scuffle.

The suspects were not granted bail after the last suspect’s court appearance on May 17.

Farm attacks under scrutiny

The civil rights organisation, AfriForum, recently said that there was almost one farm murder every week in 2023. The total number of farm attacks for the period is 296.

“This while the South African government looked the other way and decided on the eve of the national elections not to release the latest crime statistics. The South African Police Service’s crime statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023/2024 should have been released last week, but it seems that the ANC government does not see a chance to face the true facts that emerge from the statistics so soon before the elections,” they said in a press release.

AfriForum’s latest annual report on farm attacks and murders was launched in Centurion on last Monday. According to their reports, 49 farm murders were committed last year.

The organisation accused the police of not giving the necessary attention to farm murders that are necessary.

AfriForum said that they follow the allocation of resources to the National Prosecuting Authority for investigations into certain serious and organised crimes, i.e. priority crimes. Transit robberies, illegal mining and politically motivated murders are some of the crimes for which special ministerial task teams have been set up for prevention and investigative purposes.

“A specialised approach to unique crimes should be welcomed,” Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s Chief Spokesperson for Community Safety, said. However, they have questions about why the government refuses to follow the same approach with farm attacks and farm murders. “In certain cases the incidence of farm attacks and murders is much higher, more violent and requires a much more specialised approach than some of the crimes that were prioritised,” he said.

According to their statistics, there are 40 people killed in political assassinations in 2022, and 41 killed in murders related to illegal mining activities in 2023. According to them, there were 234 transit robberies in 2023 and 296 farm attacks in the same year.

According to Broodryk, the cash-in-transit robber resulted in specialist response from the government, but farm attacks are seemingly ignored.

“AfriForum will in the meantime actively continue the fight for safety of the community through its more than 170 safety structures and more than 10 000 trained volunteers countrywide. These structures repeatedly succeed in fending off farm attacks and apprehending criminals who are guilty of these crimes. AfriForum will continue to expand its safety network further, provide training and equip community members with the necessary skills to act within the framework of the law and to curb crime.”

source:4 farm murderers in Pietersburg court after fatal farm attack in 2022 – Volkskrag News