Two men sought for open cases; might be hiding in the area
Two men who are not unknown to the West Rand are sought after it came to light that there are several cases against them.
Jacobus Myburgh recently took to Facebook and asked the community to help him find his brother, Francois and his friend Hendrik le Roux.
The two men have pending cases open between them for fraud, damage to property, assault, theft, housebreaking, having illegal substances and leaving an overnight establishment without paying their bill. Jacobus explained that his brother and Le Roux have been friends for almost 15 years and they are like two peas in a pod. He said over the years several criminal cases have been opened against them but that the justice system failed to prosecute, resulting in the two being released every time.
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The Myburghs’ mother, Wilma, and her husband moved to Kareedouw in the Eastern Cape recently. Francois (32) and Le Roux (36) lived in an overnight establishment for backpackers in Sedgefield in the Western Cape, a two-hour drive from Kareedouw.
Le Roux had lost his job after being arrested for having illegal substances. The two lived in the backpackers and when Myburgh did not board the bus that his mom booked for him to travel to Kareedouw, they became concerned. It then came to light that the two men had left the establishment without paying their bill.
Jacobus said his mother and her husband eventually travelled to Sedgefield where they found the two sleeping in the bush.
“After an altercation, Hendrik assaulted my mother and Francois maliciously caused damage to their car.
My mother opened a case against them and the police in Knysna vowed that they would arrest the two.”
Unfortunately, this did not happen and the two travelled to Gauteng where they went to Myburgh’s late father’s house in Pretoria.
While at the Pretoria home, they again tried to break into Jacobus’ room and caused damage to the property.
Jacobus said that a transaction was made on his credit card and after investigating he found that his brother had stolen his card before travelling to Sedgefield in May. He obtained the pin by breaking into his brother’s locked room. On May 31 he withdrew money from Jacobus’ account.
“I suspect that they were trying to gain access to my room hoping to get valuables or a file that I have in my possession of the two of them committing crimes relating to the abuse of the R350 Covid grant – which is fraud on its own. A case relating to this will also be opened and the matter was reported to SASSA.”
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He added, “They need help with their substance abuse and I have no idea to whom one must turn to for help when they do not want to be helped.”
He explained that the two were last seen in the Witpoortjie area and it is believed they might be around that area, or in Roodepoort or Krugersdorp and that someone might be concealing them. Francois is also one of the five directors of the Walk for Rhinos NGO. And as far as Jacobus knows, there have been no fundraising initiatives recently.
The most recent cases opened against the two are:
• Knysna Police Station Case Number: 410/5/2023 – Malicious damage to property against Myburgh and assault against Le Roux.
• Hercules Police Station in Pretoria, Case Number: 111/6/2023 – Theft, malicious damage to property, housebreaking and fraud against both men.
Jacobus assumes that there is a case against Le Roux for being in the possession of illegal substances and that both men are being sought by the management of the overnight establishment as well.
If they are spotted, call the police immediately. They can also contact me [Jacobus] on 084 412 6644 so that I can provide the information to the police.”
Francois also has health issues relating to Septicaemia that he struggled with in 2022. This has caused respiratory problems and his last visit to the hospital was in April.
The two men were also in the Krugersdorp News last October when they claimed that they were assaulted and robbed by an e-hailing service driver and his friends. However, the driver opened a case against them claiming that the two tried to hijack him.
