BETHAL – Mr Walter Stander, owner of Sniper Protection Services appeared in dock of the Bethal Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 30 January.
He is facing assault charges after he allegedly used a taser gun on Mr Adriaan Keyser (19) last year.
Mr Keyser was employed by Sniper as a guard on a farm at the time and claimed he had fallen asleep after 36 hours on duty.
A video of the taser incident in which Mr Stander sneaked up on a sleeping Keyser in the dark, has since leaked out on social media. Mr Stander, who demands to be called ‘Generaal’ by his workers, refers to this procedure as “sniping”.
He claims however, that the incident on the video was staged and used for training purposes.
Mr Keyser opened an assault case against Mr Stander two weeks ago after he and several other young guards came forward with tales of alleged abuse and exploitation.
This forced the Private Security Industry Regulator (Psira) to investigate numerous allegations against Mr Stander and his company. He was given only a few days to get his paperwork in order before Psira would move in.
In the midst of this storm over Mr Stander’s head, the police were looking for him during that weekend of 24 January.
Also read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/ridge-times/153832/owner-sniper-protection-services-bethal-claims-assault/
Photos of a bleeding Mr Stander surfaced that Monday, 27 January.
Mr Stander told Ridge Times that he was opening an assault charge against his attackers, but according to Const Thomas Mogadime, spokesman for Bethal Police, no such case was ever opened.
However, Const Mogadime did confirm that Mr Stander is the alleged accused in a case opened by Mr Keyser.
Mr Stander was charged at the police station with assault, released on warning and he appeared in court the next day.
The case was postponed to 6 March.
