Charges laid but weapon destroyed

Fort Brown police are investigating charges of assault and intimidation after a farm worker allegedly threatened another farmworker with a firearm and bit off his thumb.

Fort Brown police are investigating charges of assault and intimidation after a farm worker allegedly threatened another farmworker with a firearm and bit off his thumb.

Lindile Budaza says that the police prevented him from laying charges against a man who threatened him with a gun on Cranford Farm, in the vicinity of Kwandwe Game Reserve. Budaza says an argument broke out between the two men about two months ago.

Station Commisioner Inspector Hlwempu (who refused to provide Grocott’s Mail with his first name) confirmed that assault charges had been laid by Budaza. He added that the firearm that was allegedly used to threaten Budaza was in fact a plastic toy gun and that the police have since destroyed it. Hlwempu said that police procedure required them to destroy toy guns which are used to threaten people. However, he also said that there are no records which confirm that the toy gun was in fact destroyed.

When Grocott’s Mail first contacted Hlwempu last week he said Budaza’s case was not “recorded in the station’s register of cases”, effectively meaning that Budaza’s charges had not been laid. However, Hlwempu made an about turn last Friday and said Budaza’s case had been opened but could not explain his previous statement to the contrary. “The case has been opened and the courts will decide its outcomes,” he insisted.

Hlwempu accused Budaza of laying counter-charges against his alleged perpetrator following another brawl last month. He alleged that Budaza attacked the man, who lives on a farm nearby, in what is reported as an ongoing feud following the firearm incident. The man subsequently laid assault charges against him.
Budaza confirmed that his case was opened on Thursday and that the investigator has confirmed receiving it. “This shows that my case would not have been investigated had I not brought my plight to the attention of Grocott’s Mail,” said a relieved Budaza.

In another development, Budaza said that the Fort Brown police had violated his rights by not allowing to lay charges against the other farmworker.

He said that after the firearm incident he tried to lay charges with the police twice but was unsuccessful.
“Out of frustration I resorted to taking charge of my security and dealt with the guy myself,” he added. Budaza was arrested for assaulting the man and later released on a warning. The case against him continues next month.
He alleges that on Monday, 9 November he went to the station to lay a charge of assault and for being threatened with a firearm but police officers told him he did not have a case as they "had destroyed the toy gun". “They shouted at me and threatened me with exercising the police force for which they claim to have undergone training,” he explained. “I was never humiliated in that fashion before, especially not in front of my school-going son.”

He said that despite the commotion he insisted on having a docket opened which the police eventually agreed to. He said he called them a week later to enquire about any progress in the investigation and the police told him that they had handed the docket over to the investigator. But the investigator did not know about this when Budaza called him.
When he called the station again the police maintained that the docket had been handed over to the investigator, so he decided to call Hlwempu who promised him a visit but “did not come”.