Survived: Sarel Venter 92, Pattie Venter 91, stabbed, beaten inside Lyttleton Manor home by two young black males

Survived: 92-year-old Sarel Venter, wife Pattie 91, stabbed, beaten inside their Lyttleton Manor home by two black males who knew they had a safe In a story by Laetitia Velleman on 21 February 2014 in the Pretoria East Rekord Afrikaans newspaper, the attack on an elderly Afrikaner pensioner-couple was described. The victims, Sarel and Pattie Venter were both born during the 1920s Great Depression. They lived through the poorest times in South Africa, through World War Two and the recovery afterwards - they survived the riotous times of the 1980s and 1990s - and raised four children. on February 7 they celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary. They have seven grand-children and two great-grandchildren. And the Afrikaner couple remain active in their community despite their age. Sarel is known amongst his neighbours as a friendly man who cares for the community. He walks with a zimmer-frame but still walks to the Lyttleton shopping centre each day to give food-aid to homeless people and the carguards at the Lyttelton shopping centre. On Friday-morning, this Afrikaner couple were attacked inside their home by two black male thugs who had torn off the security gate to get to the elderly Afrikaners. The couple were stabbed, dragged around and bashed over their heads. And Sarel Venter now is left with a huge gash across his face where one of the young thugs used a screwdriver on him to 'convince him' to hand over the key to their safe. His wife Pattie went into shock after she was dragged around, bashed over the head and beaten by the two aggressive young males. Sarel: "if this had happened at night they would have destroyed us,' he said, his face stitched up after he was slashed by a 'house robber' on Friday-morning early. The two black males removed the security gate to their home and broke in just when Pattie was standing at the kitchen sink. "A hand closed down over her mouth, they dragged her around, ripped off her wedding rings and bashed her over the head,' she said. Sarel was in the bathroom when he was attacked by the two men who demanded 'money, money'. They somehow knew that there was a safe inside the closets of the main bedroom and threw out all the clothes in their hurry to get to it. Sarel was slashed across his face when he wasn't willing to give them the key, throwing him down on the bed and tying his hands and feet together. The story didn't say whether anything else of value was robbed except Pattie's rings and their cellphones -- but it did say that after the 'robbers had fled' Sarel got himself untangled and went next door for help."I was covered in blood and felt helpless because they had also cut our telephone line,' he said. The neighbour phoned the Venter couple's children while the neighbour's wife took him to a clinic to get stitched up. Sarel said: 'it's important to be good friends with your neighbours so that you can rely on them at times of need.' http://rekordeast.co.za/14871/bejaarder-met-skroewedraaier-aangeval/