A violent gang of robbers attacked a farm again in Broederstroom in the early hours on Tuesday, making this the sixth farm attack in the Broederstroom/Skeerpoort area in one week.

A gang of approximately seven stormed a farm in the Welgegund area in Broederstroom near Necsa and attacked workers’ quarters at around 00:30 on Tuesday.

According to Arthur Crewe of SRU HiRisk Unit, the attackers divided themselves into two groups. “One group targeted the workers’ rooms while the other group tried to invade the main house. The robbers smashed the workers’ quarters’ windows and threatened to set the house alight if they didn’t come out,” Crewe said.

In die meantime, the group of robbers at the main house triggered the alarm when they smashed windows and broke down safety gates. The house owner was not at home.

“We received the alarm signal and rushed to the property. Our vehicle was flagged down by farm workers that were hiding. The robbers had obviously seen us coming and had fled from the workers’ house. The workers informed us that multiple suspects had attacked their living quarters. After assuring that the workers were safe, we moved towards the main house where we heard windows being smashed. When the suspects saw us they fled through a fence they had cut to gain entry to the farm. We gave chase on foot but they had disappeared.”

The Hartbeespoort police are investigating a burglary case. No arrests have been made.
Hartbeespoort community policing forum chairman, Romano van der Spuy said that rural safety structures have been requested to ensure that people living on farms and smallholdings become part of local rural safety structures. We urge residents on farms and smallholding to increase security measures and to be vigilant at all times. We also thank security services that are playing an important role in safeguarding our rural communities.”