Durban - Family and friends of Ixopo farmer, Anton Phillip Verwey, 67, are reeling from his murder.
A friend, who did not want to be named, said Verwey’s wife was struggling to process what happened in their home on Monday.
“We are all traumatised by it. She (Verwey's wife) is inconsolable. Anton was a good man, a beautiful soul, who loved his family, his friends and his country. To meet his end like this; it’s just too tragic and awful to comprehend,” a friend said.
He said Verwey’s wife was receiving trauma counselling following her discovery of her husband’s bloodied body, and was in shock.
“No one should ever have to go through that, to witness your beloved die in front of your eyes in that gruesome way. She is devastated,” he said.
Verwey was attacked in his farmhouse 20km from Ixopo by a gang of robbers at about 4am on Monday, and stabbed to death.
According to police, five men broke through a window and entered the house while another stood guard.
Verwey, who was apparently already awake and had started his day, was confronted by the gang, and judging by the state the house was found to be in, police believe a fight between the farmer and his attackers ensued.
The gang allegedly stabbed Verwey twice before making off with bicycles and digital equipment.
Verwey’s wife was asleep in the bedroom for most of the attack, but was awoken by a noise. She left the bedroom and found her husband lying bleeding on the floor of the hallway.
She alerted police and paramedics, but by the time they arrived, Verwey had died.
Ixopo police, the Kokstad K9 unit and private security company, Magma’s detectives, sprang into action and within six hours of the murder, the entire gang of six had been traced and arrested.
The suspects are aged between 14 and 24 and were expected to appear in the Ixopo Magistrate’s Court today.
Two bicycles, a television set, computer, laptop, cellphones and other belongings believed to have been stolen were recovered from the arrested suspects.
Daily News
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