Africa: Kids held after farm bloodbath
March 8, 2004

By Yunus Kemp

Six farm children, aged between eight and 13, face charges of attempted murder for allegedly tying up an eight-year-old and assaulting him when he threatened to expose their killing spree that left 21 buck dead - most of them a rare breed.

Two of the boys, who allegedly pushed a stick into their victim's anus, also face charges of indecent assault.

All six face charges of malicious damage to property after their alleged rampage on the Saxenburg wine farm in Kuils River left 15 rare black springbok and six Nguni miniature buck dead. Saxenburg has a children's farm as a tourist attraction.

The boys are alleged to have battered the animals to death with vine sticks and stones.

Saxenburg management has laid charges of trespassing, stock theft and animal abuse against them.

The six boys, from the Voorentoe farm in Kuils River, were arrested last week after police followed a bloody trail from Saxenburg to their homes and eventually their mothers' kitchens - where some of the buck carcasses were found.

After a brief appearance in the Blue Downs Magistrate's Court, two of the boys, aged 13 and nine, were released into the custody of their parents, while the others, two aged eight, one aged nine and one who is 11, were remanded to a place of safety.

Police spokesman Captain Eugene Sitzer said the assaulted boy had been discharged from hospital on Wednesday, two days after being found injured next to a tree by his grandmother 24 hours after the attack.

"He had been severely assaulted and his face was badly swollen. He also had several bruises to his body. It appears that he accompanied the boys to Saxenburg and then told them he was going to tell the farm's management what they had just done. They then assaulted him," Sitzer said.

His grandmother, Marie du Plessis, said the boy, who had spent the weekend at Voorentoe, had told her last Sunday that he was going home to his mother in Wesbank.

"On Monday morning, a friend came knocking on my door and told me my boy was in trouble. When I stepped outside, I saw him standing at a nearby tree in his underpants. His hands were tied.

"I went over and cut him free. His face was swollen and he was crying. He could hardly speak. I then took him to the farmer, who called an ambulance."

A farm worker, who had passed by on a quad bike, said he had seen the boy and described his condition as "terrible".
At Saxenburg, farm manager Len Coetzee contacted police after a security officer discovered 11 dead black Springbok on Monday morning.

"To my horror, I discovered the dead animals. There was a 12th one that was still living, but it later died. It appeared that the attackers beat them with stones and sticks. The carcasses were everywhere. It was gruesome and ghastly.

"The day before, on the Sunday morning, I was called down to the encampment of the miniature buck. Initially, I thought they'd been killed by a wild animal. But on closer inspection, I saw that there was no bite marks. With both sets of animals, it appeared that their heads were bashed in," said Coetzee.

Trackers from the police stock theft unit, summoned to Saxenburg, followed a blood trail leading from the wine farm to neighbouring Voorentoe. There, in the kitchens of farmworkers, police discovered the carcasses of three more black springbok.

After being told that the six boys had brought the carcasses home, police rounded them up at school and took them to Saxenburg.

Coetzee said he was shocked at the boys' nonchalance.

"When police brought them here they confessed to killing the animals, but they looked like they did not have a care in the world. It appeared that they killed the animals for fun."

Coetzee said the black springbok, of which there are now 10 left at Saxenburg, were a rare breed and the farm had paid R1 000 each. The miniature buck, of which there are now seven left, cost R250 each.

Both breeds, which were acquired in South Africa, were popular with tourists visiting the farm, Coetzee said.
The boys were expected to appear in court on March 16.


This incident comes less than two months after a similar farm attack allegedly by children led to a boy's death.

On a Faure wine farm in December, four boys, aged seven to 11, allegedly beat up eight-year-old Isaac Muggels and then tossed him, unconscious, into a farm dam, where he drowned.

The four boys have appeared before a magistrate.

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