Durban - Sugar cane farmer Peter Johnson was greeting his younger brother outside his farmhouse at Nyoni, near Mandeni, on Tuesday evening when they were both struck down by a hail of bullets.
Peter had just arrived to visit his brother, Ian, also a sugar cane farmer, when gunmen hiding in the garden opened fire.
Peter, 56, died at the scene. Ian, 54, was taken to Mediclinic Victoria Private Hospital after a bullet struck him in his mouth.
Ian’s brother-in-law, Tony Williamson, said he flew from his home province of North West to the farming village on learning about the shooting.
He arrived at the farm early on Wednesday to find several police officers and forensics experts inspecting the crime scene.
When The Mercury arrived, police had already retrieved several spent cartridges, while a bloodstained takkie with a bullet hole in it lay on the veranda, beneath a shattered pane of glass near the front entrance.
Williamson said two of the attackers had entered the house after the shooting, but fled soon afterwards.
Police said no arrests had been made, but they said they would investigate murder and attempted murder charges.
Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker said the attackers stole two rifles from the premises before they fled. They were looking for three men, who appeared to have used assault rifles in the attack.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant- General Mmamonnye Ngobeni condemned the murders.
“We will hunt down these ruthless killers. We would advise them to hand themselves over or to sleep with one eye open,” she said.
Keith Archibald, administrator for the Zululand Planters Association, said Ian was an active member of the local Mill Group Board, which represented local sugar cane growers.
Archibald said the Mandeni area had been free of farm attacks for nearly 12 years.
“We suspect the attackers were after guns to use in the taxi violence,” he said.
Nkosinathi Thwala, of Zethu Security, said a message from Ian’s panic-stricken wife, Cheryl, was received soon after the attack.
“She was calling for help from local farmers. We rushed to the scene and searched in the sugar cane for the suspects, but we were instructed to call off the search to allow the dog unit to take over,” he said.
The Mercury