HAZYVIEW – Proper communication and cooperation enabled a group of farmers of the Sabie Valley to apprehend two suspected farm attackers on Monday morning.
The men were allegedly involved in a brutal attack on Ms Isabella Coetzer (59) on Sunday afternoon. She is currently being treated in Nelspruit Mediclinic and spoke to Lowvelder about her ordeal.
Always vigilant, Coetzer said she thought it was safe to venture outside at 16:15, because it was still light. As she turned to close her security gate, she was tackled by one man, after which the second launched a vicious physical attack on her; kicking, beating and throttling her. According to Coetzer the men said they had come all the way from Johannesburg because one of her previous employees, who now lives in Shoshanguwe, had said they would find ” a lot of money” on the farm.
The men bound her hands and feet and demanded to know where the money was. They opened the safe and took R2 000 cash, three cell phones and weapons. One of the men threatened to slice off Coetzer’s ear with scissors and later to chop off her toes with a knife. Coetzer recalled, “I told him the knife was too blunt, and after he tested it he agreed.” She also kept praying, for herself and for her attackers, “the one man kept saying that God was a snake,” said Coetzer.
The attack and robbery lasted several hours. After the men had left, Coetzer escaped from her bonds and alerted Hi-Tech Security. They arrived on the scene to find a beaten and bloodied Coetzer locked in her room.
The Sabie River Security Group, which consists of farmers of the area, received a report about the attack at 20:00 and immediately started patrolling the area. Members were deployed at several bus stations in the area and at 04:00 the suspects were seen boarding a bus. They identified them based on Coetzer ‘s description.
Mr Neels Luus, one of the founders of the group, said that within minutes, farmers had blocked the road with their bakkies and surrounded the bus. They arrested three men and found the firearms and stolen goods on the bus.
“The reaction of the farmers was phenomenal and we are grateful that no one was injured,” said Luus. He had started the group with another farmer, Mr Warren Bartholomeu, a few months ago, “because we were fed up with crime in the area”, he said. This is, according to Luus, the fourth incident the group had attended to in the past three weeks.
Coetzer, who lost her husband four months ago and lives alone, warns other residents, “It happens so fast, even if you think you are prepared. It is by the grace of God that I am alive.”
Update: August 30
WHITE RIVER – One of the men who appeared in the local Magistrate’s Court on August 22 for the attack on widow Ms Isabella Coetzer four days earlier, was an employee of hers at Sabaan farm in the Kiepersol area. Alfred Nyalungu appeared with his nephew Morris Nyalunga and a third suspect, Mandla Mahlangu, on charges of house robbery and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
The case was postponed until September 5 for bail application.
