Mkhondo farm killings: What really happened?

Another version of events in the Mpumalanga farm shooting has emerged: that it was sparked by one of the deceased picking up a pistol that had fallen off a farmer during a scuffle and started shooting.

According to police, the deceased brothers Mgcini Coko, 36, and Zenzele Coko, 39, were at Pampoenkraal Farm at Dirkieskop, Mkhondo, last week as part of a group who had gone to ask for seasonal work.

The group was apparently told to leave but realised as they left that one of them was missing and they returned to the farm to find him held in one of the farm houses, beaten up.

It is said that as the men demanded he be released, a scuffle broke out and the duo was reportedly shot and died at the scene. Three others sustained serious injuries.

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But Bennie van Zyl, the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TLU SA) general manager, said the version he heard was that there was a group of people armed with knobkerries and steel pipes shouting “we are going to kill you”.

He said what he was told was that one of the deceased hit a farmer on the head with a pipe, the force of which sent him falling to the ground and his pistol fell out of his holster.

Van Zyl, who repeatedly emphasised that this was hearsay as he was not there, said one of the deceased is said to have picked up the fallen pistol and started shooting.

“This one guy picked up the pistol and started shooting and then the people shot him dead. That is the story that I heard. Is that the truth? I do not know because it is an investigation situation. I do not know what the reality is. That is the other side of the story,” he told The Citizen.

This version was vehemently disputed by the SA Farm Workers and Labour Tenants Association, which said the statement given to the police was the accurate documentation of the version of events.

Leader of the association Bongani Hlatshwayo, who said he was one of the first people to arrive at the scene, insisted the brothers were shot and killed when they tried to rescue one of their companions, who had been kidnapped and assaulted.

This comes as Afrikaner rights organisation AfriForum calls for calm and refraining from spreading of assumptions about the murder suspects, and asked people to wait for a thorough investigation to be done.

Ernst Roets, the organisation’s head of policy and action, said there were several versions of what happened during the incident.

He said emotions were running high without any certainty on what really went down and that the fact that two people were killed and one hospitalised was regrettable.

“There is, however, too little verified information available to make conclusions about what really took place.

“The different versions also vary to such an extent that it would be irresponsible to simply come to conclusions and publish it as the truth without having all of the facts,” Roets said in a statement.

The provincial police spokesman, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, refused to comment on the emerging version of the incident.

“Remember, the case is now sub judice, meaning we cannot discuss the incident because that might jeopardise the case, especially talking about who did what. I am sorry, but the matter is in the hands of court,” he said.

Daniel Malan, 38, Cornelius Greyling, 26, Othard Clingberg, 58, and Michael Sternberg, 31, have each been charged with two counts of murder and one of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily.

On Monday, the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court postponed their matter to next week for further investigation and a formal bail application.