Cape Town – A Free State farmer had to jump into a pool after being attacked by two men and having petrol poured over him.
Andries Smith Myburgh was having lunch at his farmhouse in Vandermerwesdam in the Koffiefontein district at around 1.45pm on Monday when he smelled smoke outside his home.
When he went to investigate, he was attacked by two men. He only realised he was on fire when he shot at the suspects as they fled.
“He went to investigate and was hit with an object on the head but managed to push the suspect away,’’ police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said.
’’He was allegedly attacked with a knife by a second suspect and in the process he had petrol poured on him. The victim managed to pull out his firearm and the suspects fled.
’’He fired a number of shots in their direction and while firing, realised that he was on fire. He jumped into the swimming pool,” said Makhele.
Myburgh alerted the police and neighbours.
“One suspect was identified as being about 2m tall, wearing green overall trousers and a light blue shirt. The other one had a blue overall suit.
’’Both suspects are unknown to the complainant. The complainant was attended by medical personnel but had no serious injuries,” said Makhele.
This comes as emotions are at fever pitch in the Free State farming community after the brutal murder of 21-year-old Paul Roux farm manager Brendin Horner. His body was found with a rope around his neck and tied to a pole.
On the day Sekwetje Mahlamba and Sekola Matlaletsa appeared in the Senekal Magistrate’s Court, farmers from across the country descended on Senekal to voice their anger against farm murders.
AfriForum’s deputy chief executive, Ernst Roets, at the weekend called on the government to take stern action against farm murders.
“People are angry and fed up with a lack of action by South African government. We’ve had President Cyril Ramaphosa going into an international forum in 2018 and when asked about farm murders, he denied that it exists. And more recently, two weeks ago, we had Minister of Police Bheki Cele saying that farm murders are something that should not be a priority for the police.”
IOL