Four arrests two months after pub assault

Four men, aged between 18 and 47, have been arrested on charges of attempted murder after an incident that took place on 16 November at the well-known pub and restaurant Elephants and Friends. It is not the first time the pub has been at the centre of controversy.

On the ill-fated evening, two young men, Arno van Staden and Ruan Snyman allegedly were assaulted heavily by members of the Mac’s Motorcycle Club. The whole incident was caught on security cameras.

In 2013 it was the scene of one shooting and one alleged shooting. Various gruesome accidents also befell patrons on their way home from the pub.

On 6 January the Record once again received complaints of a fight to which the police allegedly was called out but when the Record asked the owner about the incident she downplayed it as a minor scuffle and said the “motorcycle guys are actually very nice boys”. This is contrary to what the Record’s sources had said about the incident.

Another lover of pub culture and longtime resident of Roodepoort, André van Wyk, told the Record that “in the old days it was a nice place to hang out. Now it is just youngsters with attitudes looking for trouble. My son who is in his early twenties and does a bit of bodybuilding also tells me of the regular skirmishes there and that he does not want to go there anymore.”