The IRR says that it is making progress in uncovering the truth about what really happened during a violent clash which culminated in a shooting incident on a farm outside Mkhondo (formerly Piet Retief).
Yesterday, IRR CEO Dr Frans Cronje said that he feared that four farmers accused of the murder of two brothers during the incident could be innocent and that IRR staff would launch their own investigation into the incident.
The police maintained that the brothers had gone to look for work on a farm when they were murdered by a group of farmers. Since yesterday, more evidence has emerged that the police version of events is questionable.
But Cronje said that at this stage he did not wish to comment on the alternative narratives and that the IRR was still gathering information and interviewing various witnesses and related parties. Yesterday an IRR investigative analyst arrived in Mkhondo to interview witnesses on the ground.
Cronje said that, given the amount of hate and propaganda directed at the farming community, it was very important for the facts in the case to emerge and to be accurately reported in the media. The IRR has taken a watching brief over the Mkhondo case with a view to ensuring that the truth is reported and that activists, politicians, and journalists seeking to foment tensions and drive racial hatred be exposed and confronted.