STEELPOORT – A man was left in a pool of his own blood after he was brutally attacked during a robbery at his house on a farm on the Tweefontein Mine road.
Four suspects, two of them armed, managed to gain access to his home on Saturday where they shot, robbed and left him to die.
Mr Rudolf Jansen van Rensburg (55), a contractor from Swartruggens in the North West, was staying at Area 12 Farm, Kennedy’s Vale. He was busy with the construction of a plant at a nearby mine.
Jansen van Rensburg stayed alone in a park home. At about 02:45 the four suspects, one armed with a firearm and another with a spanner, cut the fencing around the homes to gain access.
“We have security beams on the property, but they are not working. We reported the incident about two months ago to Fidelity Guards. An employee from their head office was here to fix the problem, but it was still not working. If the beams were in a working condition the suspects would not have managed to gain access to the property,” said Mr Louis Hollander, the farm owner.
By this time Jansen van Rensburg had already heard the suspects at his front door, and managed to lock himself in his bedroom. He also phoned his neighbour, who did not answer.
The suspects broke the lock of the front door of Jansen van Rensburg’s park home. They also managed to switch off the triggered alarm system, as the front door key with the alarm remote was left in the door. After entering, one of the men fired a shot towards the bedroom door to open the lock.
“The suspects entered his bedroom and the armed robber shot him in the chest. Jansen van Rensburg fell to the floor, where he was left while they stole from his house. It included his cellphone, clothes, bank cards, laptop and plasma television. They also managed to get his Isuzu double-cab bakkie’s key. They fled with the bakkie loaded with the stolen items,” added Hollander.
The neighbour whom Jansen van Rensburg tried to contact saw the missed call on his phone and tried to call back, but there was no answer. The neighbour suspected something was wrong and went to check on him. He saw the suspects driving away with the victim’s bakkie and found him covered in blood in the bedroom.
Another source said one of the suspects went back to Jansen van Rensburg before they fled the scene and asked him if he was okay, but he acted as if he was dead.
“The neighbour immediately phoned the Sekhukhune police and he took Jansen van Rensburg to Dilokong Hospital. The police arrived at 06:00 to investigate, but only at 17:30 on Saturday did they manage to take fingerprints and affidavits,” said Hollander.
“Mr Jansen van Rensburg’s abandoned vehicle was found by Tracker at Tshehlwaneng Village in Sekhukhune. The four suspects are still at large,” said Lt Col Ronel Otto, Limpopo police spokesman.
According to Sekhukhune police a house robbery case was opened. Investigations are still underway to locate and apprehend the four suspects.
Ms Ansie Hollander, wife of Hollander, said Jansen van Rensburg was discharged from Netcare Hospital in Polokwane on Tuesday. He is currently in Swartruggens where his family is taking care of him.
On December 18 a similar incident occurred at Area 12 Farm, Kennedy’s Vale when three armed suspects shot a victim twice. A bullet went through his arm and the other through his chest. The victim survived the ordeal, but the three suspects are also still at large.
