Van der Merwe Gert Johannes Jacobus

Gert van der Merwe’s son, Jan, remembers: I was not at home that weekend. I was at a national target shooting championship. My dad was hunting and was busy working with the meat. My sister was visiting my parents that weekend. My father told my mom and sister that he would not be done in time to join them for the evening church service, so they left without him. After finishing with the meat, he went into the house to get cleaned up. While he was preparing his bath, he heard that the dogs were upset and went out to investigate. That is when 4 men attacked him. A struggle ensued and when they could not overpower him, they shot him. The bullet ended up damaging his liver. They demanded to know where the safe was. He told them that the keys were in the house, but the safe was in one of the out buildings. They then dragged him to the outbuilding where they stabbed and assaulted him. Just then my mom and my sister returned to the farm and saw that the outbuilding was open. They also saw my dad laying in a pool of blood. When the assailants saw the car, they ran. My dad told my sister to shoot before they come back to attack them too. She shot in the general direction that they fled. In the meanwhile my mom called my uncle on a neighbouring farm on the radio. He called the ambulance and came over immediately. They transferred my dad to his vehicle and met the ambulance half way. My sister went with him in the ambulance, but he passed away upon arrival at the hospital. The police caught two of the men near Hammanskraal. The other two fled into Botswana. They were there for a long time, but when they returned to South Africa, they were arrested. All four men were found guilty and were sentenced to life in prison. SOURCE : Beeld - 9 Mei 1989 bladsy 3 asook Wes Transvaal Record, 12 Mei 1989.