Kimberley - Five suspects were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of a well-known couple on their farm Bloubos, between Boshof and Dealesville in the Free State, on the weekend.
The bodies of Sakkie van der Berg, 67, and his wife, Ina, 62, were discovered on Saturday morning by a neighbouring farmer. They had been tied up inside their farmhouse.
It is suspected that Sakkie was returning to the farm after taking a farmworker home on Friday afternoon, when a number of suspects, who were waiting for him at a farm gate, managed to overpower him.
They apparently then accompanied Sakkie and his vehicle to the farmhouse, where they found Ina.
The suspects tied the couple up inside their home, before killing them.
The bodies of the couple were found by a neighbouring farmer on Saturday morning, after the farmworker who Sakkie had to pick up again on Saturday morning raised the alarm when he did not show up.
The farmworker had gone to the neighbouring farmer to ask him to phone Sakkie to find out why he had not shown up. When there was no answer, the farmer and farmworker drove to Bloubos, where they found the couple dead.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wendy Nkabi confirmed that five suspects were arrested yesterday in Dealesville, in the Free State, in connection with the incident.
“The five suspects, aged between 30 and 40 years, will appear in the Boshoff Magistrate’s Court soon,” Nkabi said.
She added that during the search, the police discovered a firearm that would be taken for forensic analysis and to determine ownership.