Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

THE South African Air Force member who allegedly shot his policeman brother-in-law during a fight after the Bulls’ victory was released on warning by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Pieter Pretorius, 59, of Danville, was arrested on Saturday night for murder, after a heated argument, allegedly started by Inspector Marius van Dyk, 48, took a tragic turn.

According to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ instructions attached to court documents, Pretorius was arrested at his home, where the incident happened.

It stated that he had co-operated and his firearm was taken by the police. “The deceased was fighting with his girlfriend and assaulted his brother and sister-in-law. The accused fired a warning shot to break up the fight. The deceased attacked the accused and got shot. The deceased was the accused’s brother-in-law,” the document read.

Defence lawyer Oeloff de Meyer told the court that the family watched the Bulls victory in the Super 14 semi-final on Saturday, at the accused’s home. Afterwards there was a party and a braai. The deceased allegedly had a fight with his girlfriend and assaulted her.

De Meyer said the others tried to stop the fight, but the deceased assaulted them too. The accused fired a warning shot to stop the fight, but the deceased charged him.

In the struggle for the firearm a shot went off, De Meyer explained.

Pretorius has been in the SANDF for the past 27 years and has been married for 37 years. He promised to attend the trial if granted bail, adding that he had no previous convictions or pending cases.

The State did not oppose bail.

The court agreed that Pretorius was not a flight risk and doubted if he would skip bail and risk losing his pension of 27 years.

Pretorius was released on warning and the case was postponed to August 24 for further investigation.