The Bishopstowe farming community in KZN is under siege and a concerted effort by all stakeholders is needed to restore a sense of security to the farmers.

These were the sentiments of a recent farm attack victim, who survived multiple shots being fired at him at midnight on Friday when he ran to the rescue of his wife, who encountered assailants outside their house.

The incident is the latest in an increasing number of shootings during armed robberies in the Bishopstowe farming community.

The family requested not to be named for safety reasons. The husband said he did not realise that his wife was outside when he was awoken by the dog’s barking.

“She had woken up to investigate the cause of the barking of one of our dogs when she was overpowered by the assailants, who had already grabbed her cellphone. As I rushed to her rescue, one of the men fired several shots at me but missed.”

“Only one out of about five or six bullets hit me in the face. The gun also misfired about four or five times and I’m tempted to attribute that to the fact that these men use any ammunition they steal in whatever weapon,” said the husband.

The bullet entered just below his right ear and exited just above his lip on the same side. He said the doctors suspect a bone fracture and that he was going back to hospital again soon.

Although the intruders dropped his wife’s cellphone, it was not taken in as evidence or for fingerprints.

“She picked it up without thinking that it could be used to lift fingerprints, but everything happened so fast. I used everything I could find to fight off the two men, and eventually the intruders scaled the fence and escaped. These attacks are very disturbing. We are under siege and something needs to be done fast,” he said.

On Friday, The Witness reported on another Bishopstowe farm shooting, that took place on Thursday morning, in which the wife of a farmer who was shot during an attempted armed robbery, described it as feeling as if she was in ‘a war zone’.

The traumatised woman had a similar story to tell as that of the most recent attack.

Her husband had gone out to check what had triggered the alarm at around 03:00 when he was faced with two armed intruders who fired at him, wounding him in the leg.

A neighbouring farmer, who asked not to be named, said to get rid of criminal elements in farming communities required the communities, the police and private security to work together.

“If we work together towards one goal, it’s easy to achieve. On January 1, intruders broke into a house in the neighbourhood and stole three firearms and ammunition. There have been other incidents before these recent ones.

“Our local SAPS is doing an excellent job, but the challenge is that they are under-resourced. Our station needs more vehicles for patrols. We need to stay a step ahead of these criminals. What stands out in these two recent incidents is that nothing was stolen. The phone of the last victim was thrown to the ground, so it’s difficult to say these were robberies,” said the neighbour.

Chairperson of the Umshwati Agricultural Association, Eckhard Hillerman, said they try every available method as a farming association to ensure the safety of both the farmers and the farm workers who live on the farms.

The association comprises farmers in the Bishopstowe, New Hanover, Dalton, Harburg, Wartburg and Crammond areas.

“We try to meet with the SAPS regularly and we also enlist the services of private security companies. This [trend of farm shootings] is worrying, especially with the Eskom crisis. Some people do not have back-up when we experience load-shedding, so without electricity security measures get compromised.

“We encourage every land owner to be part of the farmers’ structures. We do have these incidents, but most of them are not major, even though they leave our members traumatised. We try to do the best we can to ensure the safety of our members,” said Hillerman.

Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala said a case of attempted murder was opened after the most recent incident.

He said nothing was stolen and no arrests have been made at this stage.