Mpumalanga farmer Johan le Roux is lucky to be alive after four suspects overpowered him as he was mowing his lawn yesterday afternoon. They shot him multiple times, dragged him into his house, tied him up and left him for dead.

Le Roux managed to free himself a while afterwards and, with his right arm broken, walked 2km to find help.

According to Frank Swanepoel from Hi-Tech White River, which was reportedly first on the scene, Le Roux had been mowing his lawn near his house on the farm when four men appeared from behind a rubber tree next to the fence between his property and the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport.

Left for dead

Swanepoel says the men began shooting at Le Roux, who was hit multiple times, dragged him to the house, tied him up and stole several items from the house, which was then loaded into Le Roux’s bakkie, a silver Ford Ranger, in which they fled.

Le Roux managed to untie himself and walked to the compound on the farm to get help. Swanepoel adds they had seen the call for help on a local WhatsApp group, and when they arrived at the compound, they drove Le Roux back to the house.

ER24 Lowveld branch manager Kim Habib says they received a call about the incident at 17:43.

She explains Le Roux sustained multiple gunshot wounds and a broken right arm, and that he had walked 2km to find help. Habib adds ER24 had transported him to hospital in a stable condition.

Mediclinic Nelspruit spokesperson Liza Pillay this morning confirmed Le Roux’s condition as stable.

Vehicle found

Albert Gryvenstein, the owner of AG Solutions, was also called last night. It was established that Le Roux’s vehicle had a vehicle tracking system installed. Callen Herbst of AG Solutions traced the vehicle to where it had been abandoned near the airport.

The suspects are believed to have fled the area on foot.

Police investigation

Provincial police spokesperson Captain Magonseni Nkosi says a case of house robbery had been opened. He explains the incident was been reported to the White River police at about 18:50, and adds when the police arrived, Le Roux had already been taken to hospital.

He says they went to Mediclinic last night to get a statement, but Le Roux had been too traumatised to talk to them. Nkosi says the case of house robbery might change after they obtain a statement from him.