eShowe sugarcane farm set alight, public order police deployed
A 21-year-old murder suspect has been remanded in custody after appearing in court in Eshowe - in connection with the killing of a man - who'd been fishing at a dam on a local farm.
The incident resulted in community protests in Umlalazi with residents complaining about the police's alleged inaction over the killing.
The KZN SAPS says public order police are keeping an eye on the situation.
Some farmland has also been torched by the community.
Chairperson of the Eshowe Entumeni Farmers Association, Craig Hambury-King has told Newswatch that several hundred hectares of sugar cane has been burnt. Hambury-King says fires were started yesterday and last night.
Protestors then made their way to town this morning - allegedly starting more fires along the way. Hambury-King says at least two farms have been destroyed.
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He says on one farm, houses, staff accommodation, workshops and farm buildings have been torched.
Newswatch understands that a security guard allegedly shot dead a man during a violent altercation about fishing at a local dam on Tuesday.
Angry community members were seemingly unaware that officers had arrested the suspect. In a post on its official Twitter page - SAPS says public order police from Empangeni are on scene.
It confirms that at least one farmhouse and sugarcane plantations have been set alight.