Groblersdal - A father and his two sons allegedly beat up a foreman because a road leading to their business was closed for construction work, eyewitnesses told News24 on Monday.

The four men appeared in the Groblersdal Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm, Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Ronel Otto said. The matter was postponed to Tuesday.

Two witnesses, who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity, said the father tried to drive around a construction roadblock to get to the entrance to JQ Motor Spares last week. Construction worker, Headman Pati, 53, stopped him.

The father insisted on driving through and an argument ensued. He allegedly pulled out a gun and Pati picked up a brick.

The father left the scene, but returned shortly afterwards with his two sons and another employee.

While Pati was apparently packing his tools into the truck, one of the men allegedly pulled him out of the truck and started pistol-whipping him.

"When I arrived, he [Pati] was still conscious," one of the witnesses said.

"I started screaming and telling people to help, people were watching. I didn't know there were guns. They took me away. He then went unconscious. They just left like nothing happened."

A group of people who saw what happened went to JQ Motor Spares to confront the father and his two sons. They had already called their own private security company to protect their premises.

The matter was reported to the police and the four men were arrested. The four accused are aged 49, 25, 24 and 34.

Pati, who suffered a serious injury to his left eye, was admitted to Groblersdal hospital on Thursday and discharged the following day.

*This story has been updated to reflect that it was the father and his two sons; not three sons.