WATCH: Groblersdal father and son denied bail in assault case

The father and son accused of assaulting a black security guard and setting a dog on him in Groblersdal, Limpopo, have been denied bail.

Piet Groenewald, 63, owner of Wildlife Investigation & Protection Services (WIPS), and his son Stefan Greeff, 27, appeared in the Groblersdal Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday where the ruling in their bail application was handed down.

The two are accused of assaulting the 30-year-old security guard who claimed he was hit by Groenewald and Greeff with a heavy object and that the two incited a dog to attack him. He recorded the attack on video.

Watch: Magistrate Bongi Mashele handing down bail judgment

Politicians

During the closing arguments, the state reiterated that the accused’s previous convictions should be taken into consideration by the court.

The case has attracted huge crowds and caused racial tensions to flare in the small town.

ALSO READ: Groblersdal father and son to learn fate of bail application

Magistrate Bongi Mashele, in handing down judgment, said while politicians addressed the crowd during the bail application, the judgment had nothing to do with their attendance.

“On the issue of the politicians attending court, I won’t comment, because they were not invited by the court and they were not friends of the court. They came here as part of the public. On the issue of them going to address members of the ANC and EFF, I cannot comment on that.

“What I can say is that, this court, in coming to this conclusion had nothing to with what the politicians did, what they want to achieve and so on… Having said that, this court comes to the conclusion that it will not be in the interests of justice that the two applicants be release on bail. Therefore their application for bail is dismissed,” Mashele ruled.

Mashele said there was a likelihood Groenewald and Greef could interfere with witnesses if they were granted bail. He said they used a car that had their security company names on it to take the state witness to the police station to make a statement to clear their names.

Return

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said it welcomed the decision by the court to deny the father and son bail.

“We were opposing this case from the start.”

The father and son were remanded in custody and will be back in court on 11 March.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Lamola condemns racial tension amid Groblersdal assault trial