Part 5: Karlien van Rooyen’s chilling account of #VanRooyenFarmAttack

Returning to the scene where the nightmare had taken place, they discovered that the community had taken her father, Ronnie Lombard, to get help. The following morning, she received the devastating news that he too had died.

“He had head injuries,” she responds when asked of her father’s cause of death, “His body was broken. His feet were broken…”

Billy’s father, 76-year-old Lodewyk van Rooyen, who was viciously assaulted in the attack, died eight months later.

Adv Ludick asks Karlien if she ever saw the man who pointed the gun at her after the attack, to which she replies that she saw him in an Identity Parade in Paulpietersburg.

Ludick refers to the layout of the Van Rooyen’s Swart-Mfolozi farm, mentioning the General Store and Karlien points out that there were houses for the workers behind the main houses as well and that Petrus also resided there.

In Adv Andrè Ludick’s next line of questioning, he touches on the matter of Billy and Karlien’s weddings. Karlien states that they had two weddings, a traditional Zulu wedding as well as a traditional ‘white wedding’.

Adv Ludick then asks Karlien how many workers were employed by the Van Rooyen family, to which she replies, “Approximately 150 workers…”

“What happened to these workers?” asks Ludick.

“More than half of our workers had to be laid off,” says Karlien, the sadness creeping back into her eyes.

Ludick asks, “Where are they now?” to which Karlien responds dolefully, “Hulle is nou werkloos… They are jobless.”

At 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, Judge Barnard calls for the adjournment of the court. Proceedings to resume on May 9 at 9:30am.

ALSO READ: Part 4: Karlien van Rooyen’s chilling account of #VanRooyenFarmAttack

Part 3: van Rooyen’s chilling account of #VanRooyenFarmAttack

Part 2: Karlien van Rooyen’s chilling account of #VanRooyenFarmAttack

PART 1: Karlien van Rooyen’s chilling account of #VanRooyenFarmAttack