80-year-old man murdered on Mpumalanga farm
An elderly man was murdered and his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, attacked, in their farmhouse near Delmas.
Hennie van der Walt (80) was found murdered in his house on a farm in the Dwarsfontein area near Delmas, Mpumalanga, this morning.
According to the police, Van der Walt and his 79-year-old life partner Hester Small, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, were attacked in their home – either during the night or in the early hours of morning.
The police suspect the assailants gained entrance to the house by breaking a window.
Farmworkers suspected something was wrong when there was no answer at the farmhouse this morning.
They alerted the neighbours who rushed to the farm.
Neighbours found all the safety gates locked and a grinder had to be used to break it open. They found the ailing Small first and then the murdered Van der Walt.
Van der Walt sustained severe injuries, but the police could not yet confirm the cause of death. They suspect he was shot.
In one of the 3 farm attacks in South Africa yesterday (Welkom, Witrivier and Delmas) an 80-year old farmer was killed
— Theo de Jager (@TheoDJager) November 16, 2022
Information thus far suggests that firearms and a safe were looted from the house. A member of the police’s K9 Unit found the safe in the field close to the farmhouse. It was forced open and emptied, police say.
The police’s forensic team was on the scene, while a neighbour is taking care of Smal.
Read original story on ridgetimes.co.za
