UPDATE: Family in mourning after father, grandfather gunned down

The murder of Levyno Botha (70) “for a wallet and a cellphone” left a family devastated.

Five armed suspects were being sought for the house robbery and murder on a smallholding in Kameeldrift East on Saturday morning.

The attackers first overwhelmed Botha in his bedroom and shortly afterwards Botha was shot through a window of the house.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, told Rekord earlier that the robbers gained access to the house through a window.

Botha’s wife, Amelia (64), who was sleeping in another room, heard the noise and investigated.

She saw one of the attackers before he fled through the kitchen door.

The couple’s son, Marcel, who lives on the property, also confronted the attackers.

“It all happened so fast and you can’t think clearly at that moment,” said Marcel.

He shared the nightmare experience with Rekord on Monday.

“I was in the foyer of the house, where I saw that the burglar bars had been bent.”

Marcel said he spotted one of the attackers outside the house and yelled at him.

“I shouted ‘voetsek!’ and then there was an explosion.

“I did not immediately realise it was a gunshot; it sounded like an explosion – it was so close.”

Marcel said in his anxiety and confusion he remembered that his father rushed over to where he was before another shot was heard.

The single shot through the broken window hit Botha in the back, fatally wounding him.

Community, security groups and police were called to the scene, but the attackers managed to escape.

Only a wallet and cellphone were taken in the attack.

CPF chairperson in the area Petrus Nel said the area had seen a decrease in violent crimes these past months, until Friday and Saturday.

But in less than 24 hours, three violent robberies gripped the Kameeldrift East community.

“From 18:00 on Friday to 02:00 on Saturday morning, we had three incidents in the area,” he told Rekord earlier.

ALSO READ: Man (70) shot and killed for cellphone on north smallholding

Botha leaves behind his wife, four children and six grandchildren.

Marcel said his father worked as a salesman in the agricultural industry for almost 50 years and will be missed by clients as far as the Cape.

“He was a difficult person sometimes, but loved his grandchildren very much.”

Marcel said his father also loved nature and gave up hunting, over his love for animals, and in exchange made nature photography a hobby.

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