Two arrested for assaulting referee
Police have arrester two suspects for the assault of a referee in Pretoria last Saturday.
Marais van Zyl, the referee seriously assaulted after a match at the Tuine club in Pretoria, is making progress.
Progress is also being made in dealing with the culprits.
Van Zyl was taken to Montana Hospital last Saturday, after being assaulted after his match, in which Tuine beat visitors Brits 34-30.
He spent till Wednesday in the intensive care unit. On Wednesday he was released into the general ward, where his wife and two young children are able top visit him.
It is hoped that he will be discharged on Thursday.
Van Zyl was set upon by two men in the parking lot after his match.
He was punched, an attempt was made to throttle him and he was hit hard by a crash helmet.
Other people in the parking lot were incensed and the two fled.
The Tuine chairman, Jaco Olivier, ordered the gate to the parking lot closed, but the culprits had already left.
A complaint of assault was made to the police and action was taken.
The committee of Blue Bulls Rugby Union met on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
The union is supportive of the referees and has removed all home matches from Tuine till further notice and they have appointed an investigative officer to look into the case.
The two suspects are already behind bars.
They are apparently not members of either club, but were reportedly phoned to come and cause trouble.
A further arrest is said to be expected.
There is a shortage of referees in South Africa.
Recruitment is working well, but retaining referees once recruited is a problem as incidents of verbal and physical abuse make it hard to retain members.
