#BlackMonday Villagers mourn death of 'white Zulu'

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VRYHEID - He was determined to build a mud hut for his unemployed son and two grandchildren, but Bokkie Potgieter never got to finish the project. He was brutally hacked to death by a panga-wielding robber who tried to steal his bakkie when he was working on the hut on Monday. Initially, it was believed that 73-year-old Potgieter of the KwaDikadika rural village in Gluckstadt near Vryheid, northern Zululand, had become another victim of the attacks on farmers. On the same day, thousands of people gathered countrywide, under the banner #BlackMonday, to speak out against farm murders. While Potgieter had hopes of farming commercially, when he moved to the area 10 years ago, his efforts didn’t amount to more than the chickens he had at the time of his death.

Also read: Farmer hacked to death was kind

He relied largely on his state pension to care for himself and his son Frans’s family. The 30-year-old Frans said his father had lived harmoniously with the locals and spoke Zulu fluently. This enabled him to interact freely with the community and participate in traditional rituals.

“In spite of him being a white person, he was grounded in Zulu culture,” said Frans.

Potgieter was nicknamed Mphephethi wenduku, which is the name usually given to people skilled in stick fighting.

“My father (Mkhulu) attended traditional weddings, drank traditional brew (umqombothi) and danced with the locals. He did not discriminate against other cultures. He spoke Zulu very well, just like I do.

“The village people adored him, appreciating his kindness. He would ferry sick people in his bakkie to the nearest clinic without hesitation.

“When my father was sick, neighbours would check on him,” said Frans as he wiped the tears that streamed down his face.

Potgieter grew up on a farm near Nongoma where he met his wife Jabu, who bore Frans, their only child. She died five years later.

Potgieter later moved to Gluckstadt, hoping for a fresh start to life, especially in farming, and he rented an old house.

The mud hut he was building was going to be their new family home. But since Potgieter’s death, his grandson Bongani, 5, and granddaughter Loveness, 3, eagerly await his return.

Potgieter had been engrossed in building work when his attacker caught him by surprise.

An Eskom official alerted the community that Potgieter might be in trouble when he noticed the elderly man’s vehicle had crashed into a street pole, at high speed.

Frans rushed to the scene and was startled when he came face to face with the man who allegedly killed his father, a stranger in the area.

“He was busy trying to restart the car’s stalled engine after the crash. I asked him what was he doing with my father’s van, but before he could answer, I was shocked to see a hessian cloth bag, drenched in blood on the front seat. That is when I realised he had harmed my father. He was still alive, in the bag.

“I said, father, I am here for you. I begged him to hold on until I could get an ambulance,” he said.

Frans realised that the man who he had been conversing with had lied to him.

“I could not look him in the eye. He said he had saved my father from men who had attacked him with a panga.

“My father could not respond as he struggled to breathe through a deep hole on his face. His eyes, nose and mouth had been hacked off.

“It was a very disturbing sight. He could have pushed the old man aside and taken the bakkie, if that was his intention, but not to kill him.”

Frans, who did odd jobs as a handyman, said his father’s death had been a severe blow to his family and his children were also deeply affected because they were close to their grandfather.

“He fed and clothed us with his pension money during times when I could find no work. My wife cared for him when I was away doing odd jobs in the local town.

“His death has affected her psychologically and I fear she might suffer a mental breakdown. For now, we’ve relocated the children to a friend’s house in another village, until the funeral,” Frans said.

When the residents realised what had happened to mkhulu (Potgieter), they decided to teach the robber a lesson and assaulted him until police and paramedics arrived.

By then Potgieter had already died. Paramedics assisted the robber, but their efforts proved fruitless as he succumbed to the injuries that he had sustained.

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SUNDAY TRIBUNE