After Leon Fourie van Lephalale in Limpopo’s buffalo crossed the area to the neighbour’s farm, this buffalo breeder approached AfriForum’s private prosecution unit to institute private prosecution on his behalf.
Fourie claims he is the victim of livestock theft and approached the unit after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refused to investigate his cases.
The unit must now decide whether there are grounds for private prosecution.
Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the unit, says that the unit of AfriForum, under the leadership of adv. Gerrie Nel – head of AfriForum’s private prosecution unit – visited the police station in Lephalale where the copies of two dossiers were obtained.
An application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) was submitted to obtain the files.
After their visit to the police station, Fourie took the unit on a guided tour of his farm in the area of Lephalale where he pointed out places on his boundary fence where his buffaloes allegedly crossed the area to a neighbour’s farm.
Nel says this guided tour of the farm and the border fence provided valuable information regarding the circumstances that may have given rise to the alleged theft.
“With this first-hand knowledge of the environment, our next step is to consider the contents of the dossiers and decide whether there is merit in bringing a private prosecution.”
