Municipal manager assaulted
The owner of Pencox Auto Air, Mr Cobus Peens, and his son Dewald, appeared in court on Monday for the assault of the acting Municipal Manager, Mr Mandla Mnguni who, was punched to the ground "by a quick left jab," on Saturday.
Both father and son was arrested around 12:30 on the Boskrans-road, where a black empowerment strawberry farm was cultivated more than a decade ago.
The project ground to a halt years ago, though the dam and galvanized housing structure remained.
The structures belong to the municipality, but a decision was taken more than a year ago that the Middelburg Aero Club, could take hold of the galvanized structure and erect it at the air field as part of the club house’s reception area.
Mr Peens says a decision was taken by the club on Thursday to relocate the structure themselves, after having been told by a municipal official, Mr Mduduzi Masilela, that a lack of man power disabled the municipality from doing so expediently.
A team comprising Peens senior and junior, and six helpers availed by business owning club members, descended on the derelict strawberry farm on Saturday to relocate the structure.
At around 12:00, Mr Mnguni arrived and immediately assumed that the men were stealing municipal property.
Mr Peens says despite numerous requests for a formal introduction, Mr Mnguni refused to identify himself, leading to an altercation which ended in Mr Mnguni received two slaps and a left blow which sent him to the ground, and loosened a number of his teeth in their sockets.
Before the punches were dealt, a heated verbal argument ensued in which Mr Peens told Mr Mnguni that, “he was behaving like a little dog”.
Mr Peens says that Mr Mnguni inferred that he was calling him a dog and retaliated with a string of insults of his own.
At this point, Dewald tried to intervene and upon confronting Mr Mnguni, he was allegedly chest-butted by a furious Mr Mnguni.
“I’m sure Mr Mnguni will also physically intervene if it was his son being chest-butten by an enraged adult,” Mr Peens explains the prelude to the assault.
Mr Peens says that the chest-butting continued between him and Mr Mnguni who, allegedly pressed him to “do it, do it!”.
Mr Peens immediately stood back after dealing the blows, where after Dewald pinned Mr Mnguni to the ground and pleaded for him to calm down.
When tensions simmered down, and the two men had calmly discussed the misunderstanding, Mr Mnguni’s lawyer showed up and demanded both father and son be arrested.
They were taken to the police station where both were released on R500 bail around 16:00.
On Monday, shortly before his court appearance, Mr Peens said it was an insult to him personally, when he was branded a thief by Mr Mnguni.
He said that had Mr Mnguni introduced himself properly, the “petty drama would not have unfolded as it did”.
He said that before his arrest, Mr Masilela, who the club has been dealing with regarding the relocation of the structure, arrived on the scene, shook his head and denounced the assault “of my boss,” who was coincidentally driving past the derelict farm on his way home.
Mr Mnguni, who had an appointment with a dental specialist on Monday around the same time his teeth got knocked loose, told the Observer that the law must run its course and that he was not prepared to withdraw the charges.
“You don’t respect a person for his position, you respect him as a human being,” was all he was prepared to say about the case he now considers to be Sub Judice, and further comment was declined.
