Bloemfontein - A weekend dinner at a Vredefort farm turned into a nightmare when a man allegedly got up from the table, fetched his host's firearm, and allegedly shot and killed him and two children.
Free State police tracked down and arrested Tsietsi Joseph Mangola, who appeared in the Vredefort Magistrate's Court on Monday charged with the murders. He will stay behind bars until his hearing next week.
Spokesperson Constable Masilela Langa said the killings are still being investigated.
He said Hansie Raath fetched Mangola from a filling station on Saturday and took him to the farm where Raath worked as a foreman.
They sat down to dinner with a group of children that had been visiting on the farm.
Mangola apparently got up suddenly from the table, went into Raath's bedroom and allegedly took the gun out of a safe.
Mangola returned and allegedly pressed the gun to the back of Raath's ear and squeezed the trigger, killing him.
The children scattered but two, 11-year-old Petrus Mohlamme and 15-year-old Katleho Mosolodi, were allegedly also shot dead.
The other children managed to phone the police for help.
Mangola allegedly fled in Raath’s bakkie, with the gun. Langa said police found the bakkie on Sunday in Kroonstad.
After information, police tracked him down to Maokeng township in Kroonstad.
Mangola will return to court on September 28 for his bail application.
In an interview with Maroela Media, Raath's distraught son Jean said Mangola had worked with his father before. His father had supported him morally and financially over the years.
Jean described his father as an honest, soft-hearted man who trusted people. He said the family was stunned by his killing.
http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Man-in-court-after-gunning-down-farm-foreman-kids-at-dinner-20150922
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