Shots in the dark

SHORTLY after 9:00pm on Wednesday night, Harry and Annelize Pretorius were met with a rather unpleasant surprise, upon returning to their farm between Vryheid and the Leeuwnek turnoff.

The couple had been celebrating their pending anniversary, having dinner at a local restaurant prior to the incident.

Upon their return home, Harry had climbed out of their vehicle to open the gate. Annelize noticed that the dogs were behaving somewhat strangely and reacted by parking closer to the entrance of the house than usual.

It was at this time that she noticed that the security gate at their kitchen door was ajar and their boerbul was behaving very protectively, almost trying to push her into the house, and out of harm's way. Harry followed his wife into the house, retrieving his firearm, as it was clear that something was not quite right.

Annelize, at this point, saw movement in the doorway of an outside room on the premises, only a few feet away from the kitchen door where she and Harry were standing.

Harry stepped past his wife and emerged out into the darkness, where approximately seven shots were fired, before he discovered that he had been shot in the upper left thigh.

According to Annelize, police and ambulance services arrived within 15 minutes, as well as family members and neighbours who had heard the commotion.

The unknown assailant managed to escape and no arrests have been made as yet.