No bail for Billy’s killers

IMAGINE for a moment, if you will, the feeling of sitting mere inches away from the monsters that murdered your son, your brother, your friend.

This was the feeling that friends and family of slain farmers Billy van Rooyen and Ronnie Lombard had to endure on Tuesday morning as six of the alleged murderers stood before the packed courtroom in a botched attempt to apply for bail.

Billy’s father, Lodewyk van Rooyen, who was wounded in the attack which claimed the lives of his son and his son’s father-in-law in April this year, along with Billy’s sister, Elaine Jansen Van Rensburg and many of his close friends, fellow farmers and members of the community, filled the courtroom at Vryheid Magistrates Court, in solidarity for the lives taken and the injustice shown by the farm attackers.

“Billy’s father, Oom Lood, built up a legacy for his son to take over one day,” stated close friend of the family, Braam Van Niekerk Senior. “And, just like that they took it all away…”

One by one, the six bail applicants filed into the courtroom at 10am to stand before the Magistrate, Anna Lentink and apply for bail, in what could have been a lengthy process, had the defence been adequately prepared for the case at hand.

While the prosecution was ready for the proceedings, by 10:15am, the magistrate ordered that the case would stand down until the defence was able to provide a date for further proceedings that the court could accommodate.

The next appearance will take place on October 5, when the defence will be required to provide the court with a provisional date for the bail application appearance.

Until then, the suspects will remain behind bars, pending the outcome of their next appearance.

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