Uproar as journalist attacked in public
A journalist from the Herald local newspaper in Kleinmond was attacked by an alleged abalone poacher while he was taking photographs at a sport even last week.
Gerard Grobler was taking photographs at a rugby match between Kleinmond and Caledon.
Shortly after the teams ran onto the field neem a male, who was identified by spectators as a well-known poacher of the area, jumped over the wall on the side of Main Road and tackled Grobler from behind. He fell backwards and with the whiplash caused by the force of the unexpected attacked hurt his neck. The attacker ran away.
Grobler regularly reports on abalone poaching in the area. He said he suspects the attacker was probably a member of the group of poachers who appeared in the Caledon magistrates court last week and on which case he had reported. According to Grobler he had been threatened by members of the Ethan Hoffman group on several occasions in the past.
“We have been reporting about the power and influence of the poacher groups for several years and the increase of these activities in our area, with little or no consequences,” he said.
“Is seems as if it is now no longer only threats, but that they are willing to use violence to try and intimidate the Herald. It is a sad day when a member of the media can now no longer attend a rugby match in Kleinmond. These people regard themselves as being untouchable and often only pay a fine for their crimes and hardly ever ends up in jail, as happened again last week in the Caledon case.”
Last week the poachers were sentenced to a fine of R4000 each for an incident in 2019 when one of them was wounded by police.