One suspect in Brendin Horner murder has 16 previous cases, says police

One of the two men accused of the murder of 21-year-old Brendin Horner has 16 previous cases against him.

Police Minister Bheki Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba told News24 it was true that the suspect has 16 previous cases.

The two men were arrested by Senekal detectives at Fateng tse Ntho in Paul Roux on Sunday, after Horner was found in an open space tied to a pole, with a rope around his neck.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele previously said that bloodstained clothes and shoes were found, and would be taken for forensic tests.

Themba said the previous charges faced by the suspects would be revealed the next time they appeared in court.

The two briefly appeared in the Senekal Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where the case was postponed to 16 October.

Farm attacks ‘not genocidal

South African Agricultural Industry Association (Agri SA) has welcomed President Ramaphosa’s condolences expressed to the family of the late Brendin Horner, and all other victims of crime.

This came after Ramaphosa’s weekly newsletter, where he addressed the high level in violent crimes in South Africa, focusing mainly on rural crimes, following the murder of 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner.

“We also welcome the President’s acknowledgement that crime is tearing our country apart and poses a serious constitutional threat,” Agri SA’s president Pierre Vercueil said.

Vercueil said the country was caught up in a vicious cycle of crime, which had an extremely negative impact on all citizens. Horner’s body was found in an open field near Paul Roux in the Free State on 2 October.

He had been tied to a pole with a rope around his neck. On Tuesday, approximately 100 protesters clashed with the police outside the Senekal Magistrate’s court, where two men appeared in connection with Horner’s murder.

Ramaphosa said that Horner’s murder should, “anger and upset every one of us”. He added that the farming community was an integral part of the economy.

However, he said that killings on farms were not ethnic cleansing or genocidal, as claimed by some lobby groups. Rather, numerous studies showed that crime on farms was largely opportunistic, he said.

Vercueil said the maintenance of law and order must now be prioritised.

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