Four men are charged with attempted murder after South African farmer Donovan Marx had both ears hacked off
Donovan Marx, 50, remains in intensive care after surgeons confirmed his ears could not be saved and part of his intestine was removed following the attack on his farm near Ventersdorp.The four suspects accused of torturing Donovan Marx inside the Ventersdorp Magistrate's Court, where AfriForum attended to stand alongside the community.
Four men — Phindile Nomngcayi, 30, Thomas Motlhangtlhong, 27, Mothoka Godfrey Mathipa, 56, and Mokhema Maishoanne, 53 — appeared before the Ventersdorp Magistrates' Court on Tuesday charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault and illegal possession of firearms. Prosecutors described the 28 October attack on cattle farmer Donovan Marx at his Syferfontein farm as a planned and premeditated operation. A fifth suspect has turned state witness.
Surgeons were unable to save Marx's ears, and a portion of his large intestine was removed; he remains in intensive care in a serious but stable condition.
MK Party MP Andile Mngxitama posted — then deleted — a tweet calling the ear-severing 'symbolic to denote the refusal of land thieves to listen', adding 'No land, no peace.'
Civil rights group AfriForum is demanding President Ramaphosa break his silence on farm attacks, warning his failure to condemn them gives cover to those who carry them out.
