Africa-Press – South-Africa. A man was arrested following the murder of a 35-year-old farmer during a robbery on a Limpopo farm over the weekend.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said Nicky Janse van Rensburg was allegedly assaulted with an iron pipe and then shot dead on his farm in Roedtan on Friday night.
Mojapelo said five men travelling in a white Toyota Corolla with an unknown registration number arrived on the farm under the pretext that they wanted to buy milk.
“The farm owner and his girlfriend arrived at the premises after coming from the local town and were accosted by…four suspects, who pointed firearms at them.
“The suspects tied his girlfriend and their friend up with cable ties and started demanding money from the farm owner. They then disarmed him of his firearm and hit him with an iron pipe, forcing him to hand over the safe keys,” Mojapelo said.
The farmer was shot dead during the ordeal. The attackers fled the scene with cellphones, a laptop, and other valuables.
A suspect was arrested during a tactical intelligence-driven operation after the perpetrators’ vehicle was spotted in Moletji, in the Seshego policing area.
Police officers recovered two 9mm pistol magazines, 30 live rounds of ammunition, and 9mm double magazines.
The 33-year-old suspect is expected to appear in the Mookgophong Magistrate’s Court soon.
The Freedom Front Plus condemned the attack.
Freedom Front Plus leader in Limpopo Marcelle Maritz visited the victim’s residence and described Janse van Rensburg’s murder as “cold-blooded”.
According to Maritz, a teenage boy had also been in the house at the time of the incident. She said a domestic worker, who reported for duty the following day, found the boy bound together with Janse van Rensburg’s girlfriend in one of the rooms.
Maritz said the government should declare farm attacks and farm murders priority crimes.
“More empty words and a clear lack of political will to prioritise this kind of crime may lead to a situation where rural communities will take justice into their own hands.
He said:
“The FF Plus is seriously appealing to rural communities to take control of their safety themselves, as well as join organised security structures in their surroundings to secure and defend themselves within the framework of the law.
“The FF Plus expresses its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased and wishes the survivors a speedy recovery,” Maritz said in a statement.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
