Durban - READING about a farm manager and his family being attacked with crowbars and cane cutters in their home in Glendale has angered Nish Ishwarlall.
His father-in-law, Dhir Roy Singh, and his partner, Kallawathie Beekarie, who both were farmers, were killed on their farm in Cottonlands, Verulam, in September 2018.
Singh, 68, sustained stab wounds to the neck while Beekarie, 64, was found face down in the bathtub with her hands tied behind her back.
It is believed she was strangled.
The suspects fled with the couple’s TV and Toyota Conquest car.
A week after the double killing, five men were arrested. Police recovered cellphones, the couple’s motor vehicle and household items. They were charged with murder and robbery.
The matter is being heard at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.
Ishwarlall said that more than a year later, the memories of that day are still fresh.
“The house has been abandoned. A relative goes to the property once a month to tend to the garden,” said Ishwarlall.
“The home is a painful reminder of their gruesome deaths. We are now waiting for the suspects to go on trial.”
Ishwarlall said the family had put the couple’s belongings into a storage facility.
“My father-in-law farmed for 40 years. This was his livelihood. He and his partner, who sold fresh produce at the Verulam Market, were taken away so brutally. There is a void in our lives.”
He said he felt angry when he read about the Glendale family’s ordeal.
In the recent incident, the farm manager, 46, and his family were tied with extension cords and beaten after three robbers broke in their home two weeks ago.
They abducted the farm manager’s 19-year-old daughter and forced her to drive to an ATM to withdraw money.
While returning to the farm, they attacked the teenager before fleeing.
Following the incident, the farm manager and his family left their home.
“We are on edge. Every sound gives us an unpleasant feeling. It is difficult to stay here. We are being robbed of our livelihood,” he told the POST.
Ishwarlall said the government and law enforcement had to do more to safeguard farmers.
“The police need to step up security and bring in satellite police stations in rural areas. We cannot allow this to continue. The suspects in my father-in-law’s case were caught swiftly. Other families are not so lucky. We need a team in every province to investigate these robberies and murders.”
He said crime would drive farmers and their families out of their homes.
In September 2015, Krish Govender was killed while trying to protect
his family on their farm in Camperdown.
Shaheen Suleiman, of Magma Security, said the group ransacked the house and opened fire on Govender.
He said Govender was wounded but managed to get hold of his firearm and fired several shots at the men, who fled the scene. He died within minutes of the attack.
Suleiman said they arrested five suspects. The matter is being heard in court.
A relative, who declined to be named, said the attack on Govender changed the family.
“When something so brutal happens, you are never the same. It has been five years but the pain is still there. The family is still on the farm.
“These are not ordinary crimes. Those carrying out the attacks are merciless. A task team needs to be put together so we can fight these attacks.”
According to the SAPS’s 2018/2019 crime statistics on violence on farms and smallholdings, there were 47 farm murders in 41 incidents in the country, of which 11 occurred in KZN.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said they were investigating the two incidents.