It has been over three weeks since Port Alfred businessman Andrew Reynolds was found murdered at his friend’s game farm near Grahamstown.
It has been over three weeks since Port Alfred businessman Andrew Reynolds was found murdered at his friend’s game farm near Grahamstown.
Reynold’s body was discovered by a former employee last month with a gunshot wound to his head.
This followed hot on the heels after it was discovered that his boat manufacturing company, A&G Marine, was in the process of being liquidated.
Police are still investigating the murder and are currently cross-examining the employees at Boskeydell farm where Reynolds’ body was found.
During the investigation last week, police discovered a rifle and two cellphones at the bottom of a rainwater tank near Reynold’s cottage. Police spokesperson Captain Milanda Coetzer said the rifle has been sent away for a ballistics test in Port Elizabeth.
Meanwhile A&G Marine’s former employees spoke to Grocott’s Mail about the events leading up to the closure of the company.
He says the company was closed down on 4 November due to unpaid debt and that the employees were abruptly dismissed. According to some of the employees no notice was issued to them and they were not paid any monies or outstanding salaries due to them.
A former A&G Marine employee who preferred to remain anonymous said: "Everything was great until Andrew employed another manager at A&G Marine. He ill treated the employees. In March this year we decided to join a union to address these issues."
After the employees joined the United Associations of South Africa -which is affiliated to Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC)- the union graded them according to their salaries and subsequently found that they were being underpaid. According to one of the workers, after MEIBC graded them it found that A&G was underpaying their employees.
A document which was made available to Grocott’s Mail which was addressed to A&G with a MEIBC letterhead clearly stated how much the company owed its employees. An amount of just over R2-million is due, with some unpaid salaries dating back to 2006.
Another employee, Mandla Vaaltein said that Andrew’s nephew, Ryan Reynolds, the A&G Marine Manager "came to us on the fourth of November and told us that the company was closing down because they did not have any money. We had not been paid, it was still mid-month. We were shocked, they did not even give us a notice.
"We did not know what to do, we faffed around for a couple of hours and left at around eleven. We went to the premises for a few days after the company was closed down to see if they were telling us the truth. At some point we saw Ryan towing a boat from the premises. It was worth R800 000. When we confronted him he called the police."
Grocott’s Mail is in the process of acquiring Ryan’s contact details. Meanwhile Vaaltein mentioned that Reynolds was in the process of meeting with the union on 18 November when he was murdered.
