MBOMBELA – Four armed robbers attacked a well-known game farmer and businessman on Thursday and stumbled upon six kilograms of rhino horn in his safe.
His family is of the opinion that the rhino horns were not the motive for the attack as the thugs demanded cash and firearms.
Mr Jan Grobler (65) arrived at his home in Uitsig Estate on Thursday at 16:00. He parked his vehicle in the garage, his daughter, Ms Rentia van Eyssen, told Lowvelder yesterday.
As he got out, he was overpowered and tied up. “He was taken inside the house and the robbers demanded the safe’s keys from him,” she said. There were four attackers. One was armed.
“Two of them were masked, while a third was wearing one of those builder masks used to keep dust out. The fourth had no camouflage,” she said, and added that her father didn’t recognise any of them.
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Grobler did not resist and immediately handed over the keys to the safe. “He said they could have everything as long as they left him alone. However, they struggled to open the safe door and continued to assault my father,” she said.
He was beaten with a revolver, sjambok and baseball bat. Grobler was finally allowed to open the safe himself. The robbers emptied the contents which included various firearms.
“My father owns several weapons as he used to be a hunter and inherited some from my grandfather,” Van Eyssen continued. The attackers took these and came across the rhino horns.
“It was about six kilograms. My father has rhinos on his game farm and dehorned the animals in an attempt to keep them safe from poachers. All the pieces were fitted with microchips,” she said.
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The men couldn’t find any cash and took off with the firearms and rhino horns, more than two hours later. “My brother and his girlfriend reside in a flat on my father’s property some weekends. She arrived and didn’t immediately realise that something was wrong.”
At about 18:45, she noticed Grobler’s vehicle and thought it strange that there was no movement in the house. She went over to investigate and found the badly assaulted Grobler. By then he had managed to fall off the bed and crawl out of one of the bedrooms and down the corridor.
“He also ripped off a part of tape used to cover his mouth, with his tongue and finally managed to utter a sound,” Van Eyssen said.
The girlfriend alerted Grobler’s son. Hi-Tech Security Nelspruit and Bossies Community Justice arrived at the scene. They swept the area and found five firearms hidden in bush near Uitsig’s boundary fence.
Grobler was taken to Mediclinic Nelspruit and was admitted to ICU. He was operated on and has since been transferred to a general ward. “Both my father’s feet are in moon boots as he suffered a cracked foot and a deep laceration to the other. Fortunately, he is emotionally and physically strong.” Van Eyssen thanked friends, family and acquaintances for the messages of support and well wishes they had received since news of the attack broke.
Capt Dawie Pretorius, Mbombela police spokesman, confirmed the incident and said that a case of armed robbery was being investigated. Yesterday he said that no arrests had been made as yet.
Ms Elmien van Rensburg from Pro-Property, responded on behalf of Uitsig’s board, “Security measures are in line with many similar estates and have been improved over the past 24 months. Opportunistic and determined criminals will find their way into any facility, given time and desperation. We wish the police well in their ongoing investigations and hope Mr Grobler has a swift recovery from his terrible ordeal,” she said.
