South African cop held for attempted farm murder

A female police constable from the South African Police Crime Prevention Unit has been arrested for attempted murder – a suspect in a foiled farm attack carried out 333km from her duty station. In addition an ex-cop whose vehicle she was driving, also is sought as a suspect.

The allegedly targeted farmer apparently heard gunshots on his premises and saw three people entering through the gate gunshot was fired at him, in response he drew his own firearm and shot back.

The suspects fled on foot.

The officer was later apprehended with what is described as "incriminating evidence" in the back of a white truck belonging to a retired policeman

Further details at Censor Bugbear and News 24

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Thanks to Dina and Carl

ANC appeals 'shoot the boer' ban

ANC Youth leader Malema sings "Shoot the Boer"

According to newspaper reports the ANC has asked the South Gauteng High Court for leave to appeal against the ruling that declared the controversial "shoot the boer" song unconstitutional

Details

From Dina

A further update on recent farm attacks

Last month I posted a report about an attack on a Carolina (SA) farm where the attackers attempted to burn Cornelia de Wet and her children alive in their own home after sealing the doors with wire.

Cornelia de Wet was the victim of a further attack last weekend when she was shot and wounded in the leg in what is apparently the fifth attack on the farm since last months attempted arson.

We will post further details if I receive them

Source

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Hat tip Dina

Woman suffers serious facial injury in attack on her car

Mariska Killian holds the piece of iron which was thrown through
the window of her parents' car, shattering her mother's face

In addition to around 16,000 carjackings a year, there has been an increase in a particularly dangerous and unpleasant crime in South Africa whereby heavy objects are dropped from bridges over motorways onto fast moving cars below.

The following report from News24 was supplied by Dina:

A Pretoria woman's face was ripped open and several of her facial bones and teeth were shattered when someone apparently threw a piece of steel through the windscreen of the car in which she and her husband were travelling.

If it hadn't been for the fact that her husband is an experienced paramedic, 41-year-old Susan Taljaard, from Wonderboom South, probably wouldn't have survived.

Abie Taljaard said he heard glass breaking and thought it must have been a stone that hit the windscreen. "But when my wife looked at me, there was a hole where her face was supposed to be."

Continue reading here

Farm Murders - Update

I said yesterday that I would provide further information in relation to the killing of Johannes Strydom at the weekend. Sadly some very disturbing details have been released regarding this murder, it would appear that Mr Strydom was initially attacked with an iron bar, then chains were attached to his ankles and he was dragged behind his truck to his store room where his body was left.

News story here

According to the news report he was dead when he was dragged, let us hope that he was, as being South Africa he may well have been dragged quite some distance.

However, if he was alive, this will have been the second such attack on a white South African in recent weeks. A few weeks ago a young white South African was carjacked. There are around 16,000 violent carjackings a year in South Africa, and this was a particularly violent one, the young man was attached to the back of his car and dragged along the road. He survived, but with injuries, the photographs of which I will never, ever forget.

-/-

In addition I regret that I failed to report the murder of farmer Robert Botha which occurred on the 10th of May at his farm in Kameeldrift West near Pretoria. Mr Botha had been stabbed five times through the heart and had also suffered knife wounds to the face and arms, the latter presumably being defensive wounds.

News story

The killing of Robert Botha comes just a fortnight after the killing 40 year old farmer Chris Botha which I reported last month.

These killings bring the total number of farm killings since the end of Apartheid to at least 3.107.

Meanwhile 61 year old farmer Jeffrey Wicks is recovering from injuries he sustained when confronted by intruders in his hope at the end of April

Source

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Thanks to Dina and Jenny W

Potchefstroom farmer killed

Three men were arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of a 40-year-old farmer from Potchefstroom, Johannes (Boetie) Strydom was attacked at the gate of his farm, Naderfontein, on Saturday at about 13:00. The attackers are believed to have tied Strydom with chains and beaten him to death with a blunt object. His body was dragged into the garage and his truck and mobile phone stolen.

News source

I will provide further details as I receive them.

Related story: AWB blame latest farm attack on ANC

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Thanks to Birdman and Carl

ExPat South Africans March against Crime

Ex-patriot South Africans have matched through London today to protest against the levels of crime back in Soth Africa, including the in excess of 3,100 white farmers who have been murdered since the end of Apartheid.

Further details are available on Censorbugbear
and on Facebook

Click here for the video

Man 26 injured in Farm attack

A farm worker was seriously injured when an armed gang shot him at a farm in Boskop outside Pretoria at noon on Tuesday, Netcare 911 said.

"It is believed that several armed gunmen entered the farm and just started shooting... one of the farm workers was critically wounded in the chest," spokesperson Chris Botha said in a statement.

The 26-year-old man was airlifted to the Steve Biko hospital.

"The team of emergency personnel worked fervently to stabilise the critically wounded man and after placing him on a ventilator and deftly immobilising him, they airlifted him to hospital for specialised treatment."

The farm owners were not home at the time and police could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Hat tip Birdman

Grisly details emerge of Terre'Blanche killing

A grisly picture of the killing of right-wing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was painted in court at a bail hearing on Monday.

The Ventersdorp Magistrate's Court heard he was hacked and beaten with a panga and iron rod 28 times while sleeping - and nearly dismembered.

Chris Mahlangu, 27, a slender man, listened impassively as investigating officer Tsietsi Mano testified how the brutality of the Easter Weekend murder had disturbed him.

"He (Terre'Blanche) was sleeping, so he never saw it coming," said Mano, to murmurs of agreement from the late AWB leader's elderly brother, Andries, who sat with hunched shoulders in the front row of the public gallery.

"The brutality was a bitter pill to swallow - he was totally unrecognisable."

Bragged about killing

The court heard how Mahlangu, who shielded his face from photographers with his black Nike tracksuit top, bragged about the killing afterwards. The court outlined how Mahlangu and his co-accused, a 15-year-old youth, broke into Terre'Blanche’s farm house outside Ventersdorp, hacked him to death, pulled his pants down and stole his cellphone.

"They struck him several times in his face, head and body with the iron rod and a panga."

After the murder, "they met three people and accused number one (Mahlangu) told them that he is now their boss because they have killed Mr Terre'Blanche",

Confessed several times
The court was told that Mahlangu confessed to the murder several times and that "the evidence against the accused is overwhelming."

Not only did Mahlangu allegedly brag about killing Terre'Blanche to several farm workers, but he also pointed out the murder scene to police and the blood on his clothes matched that of Terre’Blanche.

Mahlangu also told Mano he would confess.

This led Mano to take him to a magistrate in Klerksdorp where he started making a confession, but was interrupted by his lawyer, Puna Moroko, who burst into the magistrate's office.

Mano read out the report written by the magistrate, Sophia le Roux, who noted that Mahlangu seemed "calm and very at ease with himself".

Also, the report said he did not have any obvious injuries to the body, despite claiming through his Defence Council that he killed Terre'Blanche in self defence.

Click here to read the rest of the story

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From Dina and Jennifer

Farm Murder Update and request

Further information on the Farm Murder I posted about last week. The victim was 4i year old Dirk Human who was found tied up in his home less than 300m from Boschkop police station. Mr Human had been repeatedly stabbed and hacked about the face, before being shot.

It is possible that his two year old son Jake witnessed the murder from his cot in the same room.

The attack happened shortly after Yolanda Human, shown being comforted in the picture above, had left their home to deliver an older child to school.

It was evident that Mr. Human had put up a struggle before he was subdued, and would have attempted to protect his child.

Apart from the torture and murder of Mr. Human it is not clear what the motive was for the attack, however, it followed an earlier attempted burglary

Full report here

Unreported attacks?

I have been advised of a further farm attacks , but we have been unable to find news reports confirming these. The details we have so far are as follows:

* The weekend of 24 April, a family was attacked in Kwazulu Natal. A woman and a 5 year old were allegedly killed, and the rest of the family hospitalised.

* That same weekend there was an attack on the house of Jurie Steenberg (47) on a smallholding in Kameelfontein north east of Pretoria,who begged attackers to spare his wife, Suna (43) who was shot in the head. She last heard to be fighting for her life in hospital.

* On the 29th April on Smallholding near Kameeldrift, west of Pretoria. 80 year old Mr Jan du Toit, was attacked in his home and shot in the stomach and arm he managed to reach his children living on the same property who took him to hospital.

If anyone can supply news links or further information about any of the above, please write to me at sarahmaidofalbion@gmail.com

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From Dina