Editor’s note: The picture accompanying the story has been removed upon request, as the people photographed were not involved in any of the previous altercations. The group was one of three bachelor’s parties held in Dullstroom over the weekend. Updated: 12/3/2026, 07:48 AM.

Last Saturday will become an enshrined Dullstroom bar tale for many foreseeable moons, but for now, residents of the sleepy highland holiday retreat aren’t impressed with a near-fatal fight, when out-of-towners pushed locals to their limits and the kraft brew spilling over when a local ‘was slapped with a dildo’.

The alleged shooter in Saturday’s alcohol-fuelled bar fight has been released after two attempted murder charges were dropped by police.

The man involved in the fights, pulled his gun and fired at least four shots amid a second fisticuffs outside a second bar.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.citizen.co.za/middelburg-observer/news/2026/03/09/two-wounded-shooter-arrested-after-dullstroom-bar-fight/

According to the police, the two victims have not reported the shootings or provided any statements as yet.

One was shot in the lower back, while the other sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach.

The alleged shooter cannot be named before a formal appearance in court.

The drama started at a bachelor party that got out of hand at a restaurant that was celebrating its official opening.

The restaurant asked the troublemakers to leave, which they did, but they ended up at the same bar where the group they clashed with at the first bar went to escape the drama.

The drama found them instead.

Fists started flying at the second bar when a person with the bachelor party allegedly slapped another patron with a sex toy shaped as a penis.

It was during the melee outside after the slap that the weapon was drawn and fired.

After the shooting, the parties involved fled in their vehicles while emergency services treated the victims.

They were rushed to Life Midmed Hospital, where they were both discharged on Sunday.

One of the victims will have to undergo further medical treatment, his sister confirmed.

The alleged shooter was followed to a nearby filling station, where another fist fight erupted before police and members of Farmwatch arrived.

The alleged shooter, a man from Johannesburg, fled the scene in his bakkie.

Farmwatch members, however, tracked his movements through security cameras to a farm near Tondeldoos.

He was pulled over by Farmwatch members on Sunday in the area where their search was focused.

He did not resist arrest and handed the weapon over to the police.

The weapon has been sent for ballistic tests, with police saying the shooting remains under investigation.

According to witnesses, a blow-up sex doll belonging to someone at the bachelor party also caused friction before the dildo slap.

At one stage, the bachelor party was requested to dress the sex doll due to young children being exposed to the raunchy novelty.

Both victims will report to the police with their legal representatives.

The police say once they obtain statements from the victims, the case against the shooter will move forward.

• Various closed-circuit video clips of the fights were shared with the Middelburg Observer.