EFF invade Fritz ‘Majeke’ Joubert’s smallholding, ‘discover old SA flag’
The party wants to turn the property into a pre-school after a brutal murder over the weekend.
An EFF supporter raises a flag during a march outside the house of the late Winnie Mandela in Orlando West, Johannesburg, 3 April 2018. EFF members gathered outside the house to celebrate and pay tribute to Winnie Mandela. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
The so-called Gonubie farm owned by Fritz ‘Majeke’ Joubert, who allegedly murdered traditional healer Anele Hoyana after himself being shot dead by police on Saturday, has been taken over by the EFF, according to The Sowetan.
The EFF in Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape has promised to convert the farm of Gonubie murderer Fritz "Majeke" Joubert into a pre-school after invading the property and taking over its operations.https://t.co/CONTJ1ySW8
— Daily Dispatch (@Dispatch_DD) December 4, 2019
The party now wants to convert the property into a preschool, according to Eastern Cape Buffalo City EFF chairperson Mziyanda Hlekiso.
Hlekiso told The Sowetan they invaded the property due to what they see as the racially motivated nature of the crime.
“We raided that farm because that man was fuelled by racism and nothing else. That is the reason we went to occupy that farm.
“When white people kill black people, we as blacks sometimes say the perpetrator is probably mentally unstable.
“But when it is a black person committing the same offence he is immediately called a criminal,” Hlekiso said.
He added that the party felt vindicated when they found an old South African flag on the property.
“To us, this showed that the mind of the man was backwards, still believing in the oppressive apartheid system”.
Joubert worked for Eskom, ‘not a farmer’
It was reported yesterday that Agri Eastern Cape has objected to those who have referred to 40-year-old Joubert as a farmer.
Eastern Cape Agri SA president Doug Stern said Joubert had been an Eskom sub-contractor who lived on a small lifestyle property, a smallholding, and was not “a farmer or member of any organised agricultural organisation”.
“The man was clearly deranged and from information received, the actions of the SAPS (SA Police Service) members who attended the scene were clearly justified,” said Stern.
“To refer to him as a farmer, to fuel anger towards the farming community, is irresponsible and undermines the efforts of real farmers to build an inclusive, safe, non-racial sector.”
‘Narrative of racism’
Despite the EFF’s assertion that the crime was racially motivated, in an interview on SABC on Tuesday, Anele’s brother Olwethu Hoyana spoke on behalf of the family, saying: “We do not want to push a narrative of racism.”
Asked about whether he believed Joubert “was someone who despised black people”, Olwethu said “It’s difficult to say”.
“What we do know from the neighbourhood is that he was an aggressive individual, he’d never shown any signs of aggression towards us previously. In actual fact, he and my mother knew each other very well. My mother could call Fritz and say can you help us with this or that.
“But we do get reports that he was an aggressive individual, even to other white people.”
Joubert is believed to have bludgeoned Hoyana to death with the butt of a rifle following an argument, with parts of the incident filmed by Joubert and another person, in clips that have since been widely circulated and gone viral, causing shock and outrage.
He is also believed to have taken Hoyana’s two small children hostage, but they were later rescued by police.
Joubert was shot in an apparent act of self-defence by a police officer after he tried to take the officer’s firearm.
IPID is investigating his death, while the SAPS are investigating Hoyana’s.
(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Background reporting, News24 Wire)
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