Arrested Senekal farmer granted R15 000 bail by Bloemfontein court

Andre Pienaar, the 51-year-old man who was arrested following a violent protest outside the Senekal Magistrate’s Court earlier in October, has been granted R15 000 bail by the Bloemfontein High Court on Monday. 

Piennar was arrested after a police vehicle was overturned and anarchy broke out when members of the farming community tried to infiltrate the cells to gain access to the two men accused of murdering 21-year-old farmer Brendin Horner. He was previously denied bail at the Senekal court with concerns having been raised that he may try and interfere with witnesses, but his appeal at the Bloemfontein court was successful on Monday. 

Pienaar ‘not a flight risk’ 

Judge Celeste Reinders heard from Pienaar’s council, who argued that their client was in no way a flight risk and that he is prepared to adhere to whatever strict bail conditions are demanded of him. She ruled this to be satisfactory, and set bail according to a previously agreed upon sum. 

She further stated that the concerns that Pienaar would try to influence witnesses were exaggerated. 

Members of Pienaar’s family were in attendance and were seen celebrating the ruling jubilantly. 

A second man 33-year-old was arrested in connection with the protest outside court, and the 33-year-old  will make his first appearance in the Senekal Magistrates Court on Monday.

Decision overturns Senekal ruling  

Pienaar was deemed to have been central to the chaos that unfolded on 6 October, and he has been remanded in custody since. 

Justice Mlangeni from the Senegal Magistrate’s Court ruled that Andre Pienaar’s attempt to access the holding cells “could have released dangerous criminals”, that his alleged attack attack on a female police officer showed a propensity for violence, and that by accessing details of court witnesses, Pienaar was to blame for “a deliberate attempt to jeopardise a criminal investigation.”

Mlangeni also said that Pienaar told the court earlier that he had close ties with the community, but a legal expert who testified in his initial bail hearing argued that “this was the same community he allegedly attacked”.

Pienaar’s lawyers previously charged that the judge had acted in a discriminatory manner towards their client due to his bi-polar diagnosis.