THE CCMA hearing between a dismissed farm worker and the farm owners who were brutally attacked on their farm, Le Fût, in April this year, has finally come to an end.
Joan and Trevor Ernstzen were attacked by a group of about 50 protestors after they received a legal eviction order against a labourer, Johannes de Water.
Trevor Ernstzen was beaten up so badly during the attack that he sustained brain injuries and has since not been able to return to work. Joan too was thrown to the ground and beaten and kicked.
Amongst the raucous crowd was local ANC councillor Dan Kotze (now chairperson of the ANC for the Boland region), ANC municipal councillor Frans Koopman, as well as flamboyant Bawsi-president Nosey Pieterse, who was dressed in military regalia.
After the attack, charges of serious assault were laid against them due to their contribution in the attack.
Last week de Water’s application for a CCMA hearing was dismissed, after the hearing had to be postponed twice when de Water and his representatives failed to arrive at the hearings.
The Ernstzens have hailed this decision as a step closer to allowing the truth of the whole incident being made known.
“The CCMA is in possession of the fixed-term contract of our former employee which was executed with the assistance of the Department of Labour.
“Everything we did was according to the law and the people who broke the law were those who trespassed on our farm and so brutally attacked two unarmed, innocent people.”
The charges of assault which were laid have been referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for a decision on prosecution.
The Ernstzens say that they cannot wait for the decision, as they want to clear their name publicly in a court of law and have the guilty parties brought before the court.
