Long road to recovery for Centurion man after ‘vicious and bloodthirsty’ bedroom attack

A Thatchfield man, who was brutally attacked at his home recently, will have to undergo a complete facial reconstruction operation to repair the damage done to his face.

What was supposed to be a peaceful weekend at home, turned into a bloodbath and a fight for life during a vicious attack on Bennie and Amanda Joubert.

Bennie is currently being treated at Milpark hospital and could face up to three months of hospitalisation.

Amanda (58) woke up to the screams of her husband on Saturday morning just before 01:00. What she saw, changed her life in the blink of an eye.

“We were sleeping, and I suddenly woke up with two strange men in our bedroom, one of them violently beating my husband. The other man pulled me off the bed and threw me against the wall.”

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Amanda’s husband, Bennie, was on the ground fighting against his attacker who seemed to be beating him on his head with a blunt object.

“It was madness. I started praying because I was sure these men were going to kill us. At some point the man tried to cover my face with blankets, and I was sure that he was planning on raping me. But I soon realised he wanted to get my wedding ring. Eventually I just took it off myself and gave it to him.”

As Amanda was lying on the ground with a gun to her head, she recalls hearing the man ask her where the money was.

“I don’t understand this at all, because we don’t owe anybody money. We haven’t made any shady business deals or anything like that,” she said.

“The week before, Bennie and I purchased a pepper gun for self-defence. I am no weapon expert at all, but while I was looking at the weapon he was pointing at me, I realised that the magazine was empty. I suspected that there were no bullets in the gun and I made the decision to run. I quickly ran towards the security gate, thinking that is where they got in, but saw that it was still locked. One of the men started chasing after me with a shovel. This was not our shovel, and it wasn’t in the house when we went to sleep, so they had to have brought it with them.”

Amanda approached a big window in the house, thinking that breaking the glass to call for help was probably her only option.

“I was confused because I didn’t know where they had entered the house. I made the decision to break through the glass window as I had one of two options, either scream for help or if they keep chasing after me, jump out the window. When the window broke and I started shouting, I looked back and saw the men were gone.”

Amanda later realised that the men had entered through a small window in the back door of the house that is close to the bedrooms.

“The strange thing is, they took absolutely nothing, apart from my wedding ring. My husband’s wallet and cellphone were on the kitchen counter and R1 500 was kept on one of our bathroom counters. We don’t know why they tried to kill us. We initially thought it was just a robbery.”

Bennie has been admitted to Netcare Milpark Hospital.

“The doctors told me that we’re looking at a very long recovery and approximately one to three months of hospitalisation for Bennie,” Amanda said.

Wierdabrug police did not respond to enquiries about the attack at the time of print. A Netcare 911 spokesperson also declined to comment.

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