Farm owner allegedly tells security guards to lie to police after 2 men beaten to death

JOHANNESBURG - After beating two men to death, a farm owner allegedly told his security guards to lie to police and say he and his son were not involved in the brutal assault.

Werner Potgieter, owner of the Bampoen Farm in Mpumalanga, allegedly claimed that since they are white, it would attract a lot of attention if they were linked to the deaths of two black men.

Potgieter, along with seven other men, are currently undergoing trial at the Middelburg High Court for the murders of Sfiso Thwala and Musa Nene on 9 August 2020.

Mthokozisi Vilakazi is a former security guard at Bampoen Farm.

He was doing night patrol on the day of the incident.

He’s told the court how he witnessed his colleagues beat the three men with stones, pliers, sjamboks and electrocute them with cattle prods.

Vilakazi, who’s now a State witness, said after beating the men up, they planted two sheep in their car and called the police to arrest them.

However, when the police arrived, they discovered that two of the men were dead.

Vilakazi said it was at this point that Potgieter told the security guards not to mention that he and his son were also part of the beatings.

Potgieter allegedly said if it came out that white people were involved in the killing of two black men, the case would attract a lot of attention and making it harder to go away.