'I ran, started taking photos'
2007-10-02 08:36
Nicolize van der Walt
Potchefstroom - A man who was severely beaten at the Aardklop festival at Potchefstroom over the weekend apparently owed his life to someone at the festival who started recording the attack on his video camera.
"I was afraid they'd kill him. That's why I ran at them and started taking photos. When they saw my camera flashing they took fright, ripped their car's number plates off and fled," Dirk van der Walt said on Monday.
Van der Walt and his family were on their way home after seeing a performance by Bok van Blerk and Lize Beekman at Aardklop.
The three men were attacking Jannie Roestorf, 21, a trainee manager at Shoprite, in the street outside the Aquabar, and Van der Walt's brave action sent them packing.
Roestorf was so badly assaulted that bystanders thought he would die.
'Blood everywhere'
"There was just blood everywhere. He couldn't get up. It was a traumatic experience, because nobody wanted to help - they just watched the man being beaten to death," Van der Walt said. With him in the car were Isobel, his 17-year-old twin daughters Lize and Lana, and his son Huye, 13.
Van der Walt said Huye recorded the events after the attack on his video camera.
A bruised and battered Roestorf said from his hospital bed in the Medi-Clinic that the incident took place at about 23:00.
"I know the guys from sight. When I walked out of the Aqua one of them hit me. I shoved him and tried to run away, because there were three of them. They followed me in their vehicle and cornered me. That's when they beat me up like this," he said.
He said his attackers used a stone to assault him. He lost consciousness after they threw him to the ground.
Roestorf sustained a fractured skull, his nose was broken and he had to have stitches to various wounds.
His entire body is still black and blue, his tooth broke off and he very nearly bit off a piece of his tongue in the attack.
"I'm definitely also considering civil steps," Roestorf said.
Provincial police spokesperson Louis Jacobs confirmed that police were investigating a case of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.
"The police have identified two of the suspects and arrests can be expected soon."
- Beeld