Murder: Top Merino sheep farmer Sarel Pretorius murdered, Barkly East

Maid suspected of involvement in murder of Barkly-East farmer Sarel Pretorius, 61: The SAPS have arrested three suspects in Johannesburg after clever detective work which started with the cellphone record of the Pretorius couple's housekeeper, reports Pieter Steyn, Volksblad: 20 Jan 2014 The black suspects - two men and a woman - appeared in the Barkly-East magistrate's court on January 21 2014 for seven charges including murder. The men, named as Bogani "Bonx" Nojokwe (31), Vumile Dingalibala (28) and the woman, Mrs Thandeka Mthiyane (33) made a brief appearance in front of magistrate P Ngindo, who postponed the case to 30 January 2014 for bail application. This follows after the murder of 61-year-old farmer Sarel Pretorius of the Roodepoort farm in the district. The State indicated that they would oppose bail. The charges include murder, possession of illegal firearms, stolen goods, illegal ammunition, car-theft, armed robbery, housebreaking and theft. The men, Nojokwe and Dingalibala were also sought for crimes in the Cape and had gone missing after escaping from the Kraaifontein magistrate's court. http://www.volksblad.com/nuus/2014-01-21-barkly-oos-drie-in-die-hof Earlier reports that Mrs Pretorius had also been badly injured in the attack, were erroneous: she was threatened but was not injured, the SAPS said. BARKLY-OOS. – While the community still staggers from the third farm-murder within three months, the SAPS arrested two men in Hillbrow and in Johannesburg for the murder of Sarel Pretorius, 61 on the farm Roodepoort. The suspects were arrested with two 9mm pistols. Volksblad was informed by a well-informed source that R2000 was paid into the account of a housekeeper where a bakkie used in the attack, and the murder weapons, were stolen before the murder. Her cellphone-records also led the SAPS directly to the murder-suspects. She allegedly had an affair with one of the suspects years earlier. The two male suspects, 27 and 32, were arrested on Saturday and appeared in the Barkley-East court. Allegedly the suspects had broken in at the homestead of farmer Van Aardt Greyling of Ricksuhill in the Dordrecht district and cut open his safe - taking weapons, electronic equipment and one of farmer Greyling's bakkies. That night they attacked the farm Roodepoort and shot dead Pretorius - who was very ill with cancer. His wife Annamarie, 51, was forced at knifepoint to unlock the safe but remained unharmed. Farmers meanwhile attended a meeting attempting to start a branch of the civil rights organization Afriforum in Barkly-East. Representatives from Afriforum's branch in neighbouring Elliot addressed the farmers on their successes particularly because of their close cooperation with the local taxi-assocation. It reportedly was an 'emotional meeting, writes Steyn, which was started with prayer and a minute of silence for the murdered Mr Pretorius. Farmers indicated that they would march on the magistrate's court to attend the appearance of three arrested suspects today - including the maid. Mr Pretorius' funeral takes place on Thursday at 10h00 from the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church) in town. (VolksbladCom report) http://www.volksblad.com/nuus/2014-01-20-plaasmoord-2-in-hillbrow-gekry ===== Update: Barkly East, farm Platfontein: Top Merino sheep farmer Sarel Pretorius was shot dead on Jan 14 2014 at around 9h30pm by black attackers. The earlier reports by Afriforum that Mrs Pretorius also was badly injured were inaccurate: the SAPS confirmed that she was 'tied up but unharmed'. The gang had allegedly also attacked the farm of Van Aardt Greyling in the Lady Grey district earlier, where they stole his guns and the bakkie they are now driving around with. The Dordrecht SAPS arrived shortly thereafter and are now hunting for the gang, described as 'extremely dangerous and armed'. The white stolen Toyota Hilux d4d number plate FWF776ECbakkie with a canopy was found abandoned in the Dordrecht area today. So the bakkie definitely was not 'stolen' but merely used as a get-away vehicle. The SAPS in Dordrecht and Lady Grey Districts have issued a warning to the local Citizen Policing Forums CPFs to be on the lookout for the gang, described as 'very dangerous'. The stolen bakkie came from the farm of farmer Van Aardt Greyling of the Lady Grey District, where the killer-gang also stole weapons. http://www.censorbugbear.org/farmitracker/reports/view/2030 Ian Cameron, head of AfriForum 's community safety, was quoted as saying to Maroela Media on Wednesday that two suspects 'with dark faces but speaking Afrikaans well', had shown up between 20:00 - 21:00 at the victim's farm driving a white Toyota Hilux bakkie which had been hijacked (from another farmer) earlier that day in Lady Grey. The two 'dark-faced men' 'assaulted the farmer and his wife very badly", reported Afriforum. "Information is still scarce but we hear the farmer has died. They had locked up the wife and drove off in the direction of Elliot. We are not certain whether anything was robbed at this house. We know that firearms were robbed.' He said that the local Elliot taxi-association helped the communicy-policing forum (CPF) and the neighbourhood watch volunteers to help search for the bakkie and the men inside. The SAPS said nobody has been arrested but the search is ongoing.