A 43-year-old farm dweller who was assaulted and tied to a tree is still battling to cope with head injuries he sustained during the attack.
A 43-year-old farm dweller who was assaulted and tied to a tree is still battling to cope with head injuries he sustained during the attack.
Johan Jacobs of Gordon's farm near Salem spoke to Grocott's Mail on Tuesday, when he came to Grahamstown to meet with a lawyer about the attack.
The man clenched his head tightly with both hands as he tried to relieve the injuries sustained on 30 November, when he claims he was tied to a tree and assaulted by three farmers. Jacobs said his life has not been the same since the incident.
"I still have nightmares about it, I wake up at night and think I am still there in that place…I think I should go and get counselling because this is haunting me…even if I go away just to clear my head…this is going nowhere it haunts me all the time," Jacobs said.
Jacobs could only manage to stand on his own feet for a few minutes, before asking for a chair. He was rushed to Settlers Hospital last Tuesday after three farmers allegedly tied him to a tree and beat him in the early hours of Sunday 30 November.
Jacobs was suffering recurring fits that his family say were sustained during the attack. Jacobs went to Port Elizabeth Friday 5 December for a scan, but the results weren't known by Grocott's Mail.
His sister Maureen Japhta, who lives with him on the farm, told Grocott's about her brother's ordeal. She said her brother and two cousins, Chris and Welcome, had been to a traditional ceremony at a nearby farm Saturday.
They had been drinking that day. Around midnight, Chris came asking for help, saying "They are killing him they have tied him to a tree."
Japhta attempted to call two police stations before phoning Kenton-on-sea police, who picked up the phone.
They arrived at the farm and took Jacobs to the police cells. When she called the police to enquire about him, an officer told her he had no visible injuries but was groaning from pain. Japhta said police told her that the farmers said he had been disturbing them, but Jacobs said he had gone to the farmer's house to ask for directions.
Port Alfred police spokesperson Lieutenant Luvuyo Mjekula, speaking on behalf of Kenton police last week, said that a case of drunk and disorderly had been opened against Jacobs. He said Jacobs paid a fine and was released.
Jacobs later went to Port Alfred Hospital, but was discharged.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm is being investigated by the Seven Fountains Police.; Attempts to contact the farmer, whose name is known to Grocott's Mail, have been unsuccessful.
