The wife of the Springs farmer accused of abusing and forcing a worker to drink liquid faeces says she is not racist and all employees are always treated well.
Maria Leicester is one of the respondents testifying at the Equality Court sitting in the Springs Magistrate’s Court, east of Johannesburg.
Joseph Mona is the complainant and farm worker allegedly forced by the employer to drink litres of faeces before attempting to drown him in a septic tank on the 9th of December last year.
Mona has accused the farmer and his 27 year-old son of allegedly torturing him because he didn’t switch on the septic tank on their plot in Endicott near Springs. 50 year-old Maria Leicester – who is the wife of the farmer – is said to have been standing by watching while the alleged torture occurred.
Mona says he was also called the K*** word during the incident.
The matter revolves around the question of whether their conduct infringed the farm worker’s right to human dignity and whether utterances made by the respondents family, amount to unfair discrimination.
Maria has denied this saying she was not on that farm on the day of the alleged incident.
