Durban - A Free State cattle farmer who was stabbed, robbed and raped is determined not to let the brutal attack destroy her life and wants to go back to her farm.
The 58-year-old woman, a widow, was returning to her farm after a meeting in Bethlehem when she was attacked by two men on her property on Sunday afternoon.
The attack came after civil rights organisation AfriForum said last month that its statistics showed there had been 157 farm attacks in the country since the beginning of the year and 44 people had been killed during the incidents.
The law and order committee chairman for Free State Agriculture, Tommie Esterhuyse, said the woman was a member of the organisation and he and others had visited her in hospital on Monday.
“She is strong and said she wants to go back to her farm and carry on with her work. But she is badly injured and has scars all over her.”
He said her ordeal lasted more than three hours after she was confronted by the men after 4pm.
Esterhuyse said the woman had been discharged from the hospital and was staying with family.
Police spokesman Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said when she told her attackers that all she had was the money in her purse they stabbed her in the leg, below the knee, and in the shoulder.
He said: “They then took the iron and burnt her several times, very badly.”
She was then dragged to the bedroom where she was raped by the two men, who afterwards fled with her white Mahindra bakkie, the cash from her purse and a cellphone.
“We think it (the cash) was just less than R200, maybe even less than R100,” said Mophiring.
After the men left, the farmer was able to free herself and call her neighbours for help.
Mophiring said the woman’s bakkie was found in Intabazwe township, near Harrismith, on Monday morning, but the two men were still at large.
He said the case was being investigated by the Hawks’ Organised Crime Unit.
Esterhuyse said there had been break-ins at the woman's farm before, but this was the first time that she had been assaulted.
He said the police response had been good. “We are in contact with the investigating officer and we hope that the suspects will be found.”
In its statement, Free State Agriculture said the woman helped poverty-stricken communities in her area.
“She fulfilled an important role in fighting the large wild fires in Harrismith last year, while she supported the poverty-stricken communities who lost everything in the fires by requesting donations for them afterwards.
“It is very hard to understand why someone who tries so hard to help their community is attacked so brutally.”
The organisation said last week that the police needed to make available statistics on farm attacks.
This and other crimes including stock theft had an impact on the sustainability and safety of the agricultural sector.
Police could also plan and strategise properly to protect the farming community from such attacks in future.
“The acts of violence against farmers, their families and workers need to be determined so that effective policing strategies can be implemented to counter these crimes that have a huge emotional, moral and financial impact on the sector.”
* Comments are closed to protect the identity of the victim.
The Mercury