The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed its shock at an incident in which a Free State farmer chained two girls to a tree.
”Cosatu is shocked to learn that a farmer in the eastern Free State chained two young girls from Lesotho, between the ages of 15 and 16 years, to a tree,” Free State and Northern Cape provincial spokesperson Sam Mashinini said on Friday.
This comes after police, who were patrolling the Lesotho border, found the teenagers on Kgauta Mofokeng’s farm on Tuesday morning.
Mofokeng (64) and his wife Lusi (32), who are accused of kidnapping the two, appeared in the Fouriesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Free State police said Mofokeng found them on his eastern Free State farm on Tuesday morning.
Constable Mmako Mophiring said according to one of the girls, who were from the Ha Qalo district near Butha-Buthe in Lesotho, three of them had crossed the Caledon River frontier to collect wood.
Apparently Mofokeng approached and started shooting into the bush where they were collecting wood. One girl managed to escape.
Mofokeng then allegedly took the other two girls to his farm house where he chained them with an 8m-long chain around their waists to a huge tree.
”The action by this farmer clearly indicates that there are farmers in this country who continue to undermine the rule of law by simply just doing what ever they want to do, regardless what the law says,” said Mashinini.
Mophiring said the couple was released on bail of R1 500 each while Lusi was charged with obstructing the police in their duties, crimen injuria and resisting arrest.
”We are also shocked at the R1 500 bail given to both alleged perpetrators of this cruel and senseless act … We demand a heavy penalty to be given to the two perpetrators.
”We shall be holding demonstrations when the two appear in court on April 12,” said Mashinini. — Sapa