A total of six male suspects, aged between 20 and 36 were arrested subsequent to a farm attack whereby a 53-year-old man (supervisor at the farm) was attacked in the farm at Blinkpan in Nkangala District on Wednesday, 10 August 2022.
According to the information, the male victim as well as his 16-year-old daughter returned to the farm house where they also reside and on arrival, they noticed that the store room for the generator was wide open and further than that, the generator was disconnected.
The man then left her daughter and went around the store room where he found two armed males who reportedly attacked him but he somehow managed to signaled his daughter to seek for help. Fortunately the girl is said to have made it safe to the house where she pressed the panic button. Other people who were in the house include the domestic worker as well as the gardener. A security guard working in the farm was reportedly tied by the suspects during the incident but he was not harmed.
Approximately after about 10 minutes the farm owner arrived at the farm house only to discover that the victim was captured together with his vehicle.
The police and other role players were alerted about the ordeal and one of the residents who also heard about it, met with the victim’s vehicle driven by the suspects on the Pullenshope gravel Road. He then turned around and gave chase until at the T-Junction on the R35 (Middelburg/Bethal) Road. It is further reported that the suspects lost control of the vehicle and came to a halt. Two suspects were then apprehended and the victim was found at the back of the vehicle but he sustained some head injuries after being allegedly assaulted with a rifle butt.
Police also arrived at the scene and few moments later, a truck as well as a white Nissan sedan emerged from Pullenshope Gravel Road then stopped by the members.Three occupants were then searched and questioned only to discovered that they were working in cahoots with the two suspects who were apprehended. Police also established that the suspects were allegedly planning to rob mielie plant seeds from the farm. The preliminary probe has also revealed the men are from the country of Zimbabwe and police are working in collaboration with the department of Home Affairs to ascertain their status in the country.
All the five suspects were arrested and in the tour of the investigation, the sixth suspect was arrested and he is the security guard who was earlier tied at the farm. He too is alleged to be working together with the rest of the suspects who staged the robbery at the farm.
The 6 suspects are facing charges including farm attack, house robbery, possession of unlicenced firearm and more charges could be added against them as the probe continues. They are expected to appear in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 12 August 2022.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has acknowledged with much appreciated the excellent work done by stakeholders working with the police. “It is encouraging to have a good working relationship with our partners in the fight against crime. We are also glad that there was no loss of life. We trust that the suspects will get what they deserve so that others can learn that in this province, one cannot just come and commit crime without consequences” said the General.
