Carol’s Column

Gun-toting farmer should have been put behind bars

Once again in our gun-toting country, an innocent child has been killed in a shooting incident.

Six-month-old Angelina Zwane was said to have been shot dead by farmer Nicholas Steyn who is accused of opening fire on Angelina, her brother Vusi and her cousin Francina Dlamini, who was carrying Angelina.

Vusi and Francina are both 11 years old. As you will have read, Angelina was hit in the head and died while Francina was hit in the chest and is in hospital.

Farmer Steyn is reported to have shot at the children with a handgun on Saturday afternoon when he saw them walking across his land. They were trespassing, he maintains. And so he shot them. This is civilised?

You see so-called intruders (obviously children) trespassing on your land, you shout a warning - which he says he did - then you shoot them?

The two children and Angelina were returning to the home of their mother, Violet Dlamini, employed by Steyn's parents, who lives on the farm.

I appreciate that I'm stating the obvious, but had Steyn not had a gun, Angelina would probably be alive today.

I say “probably” because, who knows, Steyn obviously felt so threatened by the three infantile intruders it is possible he may have attempted to get rid of them off his land by some other methods.

It would be premature to judge Steyn before the matter has come to court and, obviously, he has good reasons for believing that two children and a six-month-old baby were a serious threat, otherwise he wouldn't have shot at them. Would he?

But, besides the fact that a seemingly aggressive man is running around with a gun shooting children, there is another chilling aspect.

Although Steyn admits to shooting the children nobody seems to have arrested him (at the time of the alleged shooting on Saturday afternoon) on charges of murder or attempted murder.

Police spokesman Eugene Opperman says police are investigating these charges. (Steyn was subsequently placed in custody yesterday morning).

Somebody, presumably Steyn, shot dead a baby and critically wounded her 11-year-old cousin.

Surely, as a murder suspect, Steyn should have been arrested and placed in custody?

I as a mother of four children, would sleep more peacefully knowing that Steyn, even though his weapon has been removed from him, is under lock and key.

Who knows? The gun laws being what they are in this country, it is not inconceivable that there may be other guns around for Steyn to use again should he feel he's under threat by other children.

Opperman says the reason why farmer Steyn was not placed under lock and key is that he has a “stable address” (which he defends vigorously at all times) and Steyn has been co-operating with the police.

Personally, I think this stinks. In my book, somebody who shoots at children and babies forfeits the right to freedom while investigations are proceeding.

Steyn should have been arrested immediately and placed in a cell.

A person who shoots at children in any circumstances is not fit to be free while case investigations proceed.

The courts will determine whether or not the shootings were justified, if Angelina's death is murder or manslaughter or just an accident.

Whatever the verdict, I cannot imagine it will alleviate Angelina's mother's grief.

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