The police have called for calmness and the community to allow the law to take its course.
The police in the free state has arrested an 80-year-old man after the body of a young man was discovered on a farm on August 20, 2025.
According to Brigadier Motantsi Makhele, the police discovered the body after a tip from the community.
“A Taken team from Bloemfontein followed leads that led them to a farm along the road between Kroonstad and Welcome, where the remains were restored,” said Brigadier Makhele.
“It is claimed that the deceased was buried on the farm. Because of the advanced statement of decomposition, DNA samples were taken for analysis to confirm the identity of the deceased.”
The SA Police Service (SAPS) has opened a docket on accusation of murder and beating the ends of justice.
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“It can be confirmed that an 80-year-old man has been arrested and is expected to appear in court soon. There is a possibility of extra arrests about this.”
The police have called for calmness and the community to allow the law to take its course.
“The SAPs regard this as a very serious and sensitive case where a person has lost his life. We appeal to the community to let the investigation unfold on a evidence and to abandon the distribution of non-rewarded information that can endanger the case.”
Alleged murder of Free State Farm
In May, 78-year-old farmer Carl Christian Gutter appeared in the court of the Brandfort magistor for the alleged murder of Sonnyboy Segalo, almost a decade after the incident.
On August 29, 2016, the police were called up for what had been reported as an attack on the Gutter farm near Brandfort.
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They found four suspects who had been arrested by a group of farmers and agricultural workers. Sonnyboy Segalo was one of the four accused of attempted theft.
Segalo was found lying with a bullet wound on his back. A firearm claimed that he belonged to the suspects, was discovered three days later, not far from the stage.
“This firearm and another belong to a gutter were both returned for ballistic tests. Sonnyboy later collapsed with his injuries. His three co-perpetrators have since been acquitted of attempted theft,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Zweli Mohobeli.
Although nobody was initially arrested for the murder of Segalo, from July 2024 an investigation into his murder in the hands of the Brandfort -Magistraat.
In March 2025, the court ordered that Goot would be arrested to appear before the court in connection with the murder.
Gutter was granted a bail of R2 000.
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Vhahangwele Nemakonde
www.citizen.co.za