Note to editors: Please find attached Afrikaans and English soundbites by Leona Kleynhans MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has this morning confirmed with the SAPS in the Free State that two arrests were made in the case of the brutal attack and murder on young farmer Brendin Horner (21) near the farm Duikfontein in the Paul Roux district on 2 October.
The Free State Office of the Provincial Commissioner made the announcement of the arrests in a statement this morning.
According to the statement two suspects, aged 32 and 43, were arrested in Fateng tse Ntho in Paul Roux on Saturday, 3 October. They were found in possession of bloodied clothing and shoes allegedly belonging to the victim. His blood stained bakkie was found after the police had been alerted to the attack on Friday.
The young farm manager had apparently confronted stock thieves in the act and had subsequently been brutally tortured and murdered.
The two accused will appear in the Senekal Magistrates court on 6 October on a charge of murder. The DA welcomes the speedy response by the SAPS in this case, and we are hoping for an equally speedy investigation, trial and a conviction. Our rural communities in the Free State are being preyed upon by stock thieves and farm attackers, and this cannot go unpunished. A message must be sent through these speedy arrests and follow up action by our criminal justice system that our society will not tolerate the continuation of the war against our agricultural and rural communities.