A 77-year-old white South African farm owner has appeared in court after shooting and wounding a black woman he claimed he mistook for a hippopotamus.
Paul Hendrik van Zyl, was arrested on Tuesday after “firing shots in the direction of the woman”, Ramokone Linah, who was fishing with her partner in a river in Lephalale town, northern Limpopo province.
Van Zyl faces attempted murder charges, according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
“The arrested suspect alleged that he was shooting at the animals” police spokesperson, Mamphaswa Seabi, said in a statement.
Linah, 38, sustained gun shot wounds on her arm, while her partner “managed to hide” before informing police and emergency services, police said.
The accused “is the owner of the farm where the incident occurred”, said Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, NPA spokesperson in the province. Police seized two rifles, one revolver, one pistol, and two airguns during the arrest.
Deep racial divisions remain in South Africa 28 years after the end of white minority apartheid rule, and such incidents frequently cause outrage.
According to one local media report, the victim was part of a group of local men and women who had been fishing in a river near Mamojela Park, an informal settlement outside the mining town of Lephalale, since mid-morning. The shooting occurred in the early afternoon.
Witnesses said van Zyl had fired at the group from the other riverbank and had been heard to tell police that he had aimed at what he thought were “hippos and monkeys”.
A group of opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supporters staged a protest about the granting of bail outside the court, according to the party’s posts on Twitter.
Hendrik was freed on 1,000 rand ($62) bail and the case was postponed for further investigations to 18 May.
In a country where firearms are common, fatal accidents occur often, with about 250 people killed in 2018. According to 2019-2020 police crime statistics, more than 7,000 murders with guns were reported in South Africa.
In a similar incident five years ago, a South African farmer was accused of wounding a farm worker with a pellet gun after “mistaking him for a monkey”. The incident also took place in Limpopo province.
