A 72-year-old Hartbeespoort landlord will appear in the Brits Magistrate’s Court tomorrow for a formal bail application after he was arrested in connection with the shooting and killing of his tenant, 51-year-old Frikkie Knoetze, on Sunday.

Knoetze was shot in the head, allegedly after approaching his landlord, Paul Badenhorst, on a smallholding in Skeerpoort about the electricity and water supply, which had been cut off. Badenhorst was arrested later that day.

According to Knoetze’s wife, Marilize, the couple approached Badenhorst on Sunday morning when they had no electricity and water in the house they rent. “He was locked in his house, and Frikkie called and rattled the safety gate to attract his attention. He came to the door with a firearm, told Frikkie he was going to shoot him, and then he fired a shot. My husband fell to the ground. His head was full of blood. The landlord told me to run; he was going to shoot me too,” Marilize told Kormorant.

“I ran to the car, and my son and I put Frikkie into the car and rushed him to the hospital in Brits, where Frikkie was declared dead.”

Local police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani states that police were called to the scene, but the suspect had allegedly fled. “The suspect fled the scene while the victim was being transported to the hospital. The suspect was arrested during an intelligence-driven operation in the Skeerpoort area around 14:00 on Sunday. The police also recovered a firearm, which will be subjected to ballistic tests.”

Badenhorst made his first court appearance yesterday, and the case was postponed to tomorrow.