The farmer from Ermelo charged with attempted murder after allegedly running over two children with his vehicle will remain in custody until his bail hearing resumes next week.

Louis Grobler (41) appeared in the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court on Friday. A group of protesters gathered outside the court to oppose his bail.

The MEC for community safety, security and liaison in Mpumalanga Vusi Shongwe, was also outside the court.

Grobler is charged with three counts of attempted murder and assault with the intent to cause grevious bodily harm.

This stems from an incident on his farm where Grobler is said to have allegedly run over two children and allegedly assaulted another.

Grobler’s defence attorney, Mario Jungbluth, on Friday stated through an affidavit submitted for court records that the incident was an accident.

He claimed that the children appeared out of the cornfields and that the vehicle could not brake in time to miss them.

Grobler is said to have been the one who dispatched police and medical services to the scene of the accident.

The case has been postponed to July 26.