Police fired teargas to disperse a group of protesters blocking the N14 highway in Coligny in the North West on Tuesday afternoon.
The protesters, armed with rocks and using corrugated iron sheets as shields, blocked the highway with tyres and steel objects.
The police removed the objects on the road as protesters pelted them with stones. The police fired teargas to disperse the group.
The group was apparently not happy about the outcome of a meeting with North West Community Safety MEC, Dr Mpho Motlhabane, on what had been done to restore law and order in Coligny.
An unruly group had chanted before Motlhabane arrived for the public meeting in Tlhabologang, and they later heckled him when he briefly addressed the meeting.
The protesters wanted to know why two farmers, accused of killing a teenager, had been granted bail.
“Why were they granted bail? Did you call a meeting when you grant bail,” they shouted as the MEC was speaking.
One man told Motlhabane that Chris Mahlangu, who had been convicted for killing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre’blanche, had not been granted bail.
Motlhabane told the meeting that processes were unfolding to appeal the decision to grant Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Phillip Schutte, 34, bail. The two are accused of killing Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu, 16, on April 20, after accusing him of stealing sunflower from their employer’s sunflower crop field.
The pair alleged Mosweu jumped out of a moving van and sustained fatal neck injuries. However, an eyewitness told the police Mosweu was thrown out of the moving van.
The case against the two was postponed to June 26 for further investigation.
Residents wanted their bail revoked.
North West police said no arrests had been made since fresh protests started on Monday. Three houses were torched on Monday after the two men were granted bail.
– African News Agency (ANA)
