A man from a farm near Salem was rushed to Settlers Hospital on Tuesday after three farmers allegedly tied him to a tree and beat him in the early hours of Sunday. Johan Jacobs, from Gordon's Farm, was suffering recurring fits that his family say were sustained during the attack.
A man from a farm near Salem was rushed to Settlers Hospital on Tuesday after three farmers allegedly tied him to a tree and beat him in the early hours of Sunday. Johan Jacobs, from Gordon's Farm, was suffering recurring fits that his family say were sustained during the attack.
Jacobs is scheduled to go to Port Elizabeth Friday 5 December for a scan. Jacobs's sister Maureen Japhta, who lives with him on the farm, told Grocott's Mail about her brother's ordeal. She said there had been a traditional ceremony Saturday at a nearby farm, which her brother and two cousins, Chris and Welcome, had attended.
Earlier that day, she and her husband saw the three men carrying a two litre bottle of liquor, she said.
"I was shocked to see him (Jacobs) drinking because he had stopped drinking years ago," she said, but added that they didn't pay much attention to them. Around midnight, a frantic Chris came knocking on their door and asked them to help, saying "They are killing him they have tied him to a tree."
Japhta said she immediately phoned Seven Fountains police, but nobody picked up the phone. She then phoned Grahamstown police but their phone was engaged. Japhta then called Kenton-on-sea police and reported the incident to them.
Police eventually arrived at the farm and took Jacobs to the police cells. When she heard that her brother had been tied to a tree and beaten, she called the police to enquire about him.
The police officer who answered the phone told her that Jacobs had no visible injuries, but he was groaning from pain. Japhta said police told her that the farmers told them that he had been disturbing them. Port Alfred police spokesperson Lieutenant Luvuyo Mjekula, speaking on behalf of Kenton police, said that a case of drunk and disorderly had been opened against Jacobs. Mjekula said the suspect was "apparently causing a scene near a garage in the farming area near Kenton".
Mjekula said Jacobs paid a fine and was released. Japhta said Jacobs was rushed to Port Alfred Hospital. He was later discharged. After his return, his family noticed that he seemed to be confused and was still groaning from the pain.
"He then started experiencing epileptic fits and we decided that he needed to go back to the hospital because his head wound wasn't properly looked at," she said. Jacobs was admitted to Settlers Tuesday.
When Grocott's Mail arrived, Jacobs was moaning and visibly in pain. Japhta said Jacobs landed up at the farmers front door to ask directions home. She said he was drunk and had gotten separated from his cousins.
"He told me that he had walked for a long time trying to find his way back home in the misty morning hours, but he struggled," she said. She said the farm owner asked him to wait outside.
"He says he was standing in front of the door when he felt a hard object hit him on the back of the head, and he then he remembers waking up tied to a tree in the farmer's backyard," she said.
Jacobs told her that when he woke up two more farmers were also beating him up.
"He said they kept swearing at him asking him if he was trying to pretend that he was dead, and every time he answered the beating would continue until he finally decided to pretend he was dead," she said.
Japhta said Chris and Welcome went looking for their cousin and found him tied to a tree in the farmer's garden. When Chris tried to intervene, according to Japhta he was smacked on the face.
Jacobus said Thursday that Jacobs was still confused following the alleged attack and would open a criminal case once he is better.
