Mason Paul Victor

Age 63. He was a prominent timber farmer and one of the remaining private owners of forestry land in the Sabie area. Mason and his wife, Gwyneth Mason, aged 58, returned to their farmhouse at about 09:00 after checking on their timber crews in the surrounding plantations. Four armed men had apparently entered the property through a hole cut in the perimeter fence. Before Mason and his wife returned, the attackers had confronted their elderly gardener, Mathebula, tied him up and placed him in a pit toilet/generator area. Mason was outside checking his vehicle when he apparently became aware of the attackers and was shot. The attackers forced their way into the farmhouse after shooting Mason. Gwyneth was tied up and locked in the bathroom while the house was ransacked. Items reported stolen included firearms, jewellery, cash, laptops, cellphones and bank cards. Gwyneth eventually freed herself and summoned help. Police and private security personnel arrived shortly afterwards, but the four attackers had already fled on foot. Mason had previously been attacked at the property in 2010, when a gang stole thousands of rands' worth of chainsaws. police investigations led to the arrest of three key suspects who were subsequently brought to trial. The individuals arrested were identified as Fortune Charumbira Mpofu, aged 21, Innocent Bangy Ncube, aged 23—both nationals of Zimbabwe—and Tackler Happy Ndlovu, aged 23, from Mooiplaas. The criminal trial commenced in late July 2015 in the Mbombela local division of the Eastern District Circuit High Court. All three accused pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Gwyneth Mason and the gardener, Johannes Mathebula, provided extensive eyewitness testimony during the high-profile circuit court trial, identifying the progression of the home invasion and details of their restraint. A fourth accomplice involved in the attack was never successfully formally charged or brought to trial.