Janse Van Rensburg Nicolaas Johannes (Nicky)

The attack was a highly coordinated, premeditated robbery executed by a gang of five armed men. The perpetrators arrived at the property at approximately 18:00 under the fraudulent pretext of wanting to purchase milk. They initially breached the house where they found a 15-year-old minor boy, whom they held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and secured in a room while demanding safe keys and money. When Nicolaas Johannes Janse van Rensburg and his fiancée or life partner, Veronica Grobler, returned to the farm after running errands in the local town, they walked directly into the ambush. The attackers immediately confronted the couple and forced them to the floor, binding Grobler with cable ties. An altercation ensued when the attackers forced him onto his knees, disarmed him of his personal licensed firearm, and aggressively demanded access to the property's safes. He died from being brutally assaulted with an heavy iron pipe and shot dead. The criminals looted the home of several firearms, cellphones, and various other high-value belongings before escaping in a white Toyota Corolla. The survivors remained tied up overnight until farm workers arrived the following morning, on 8 October 2022, discovered the crime scene, and alerted authorities. A rigorous, intelligence-driven investigation led by Detective Sergeant Mooka of the Roedtan SAPS led to the staggered arrests of three primary suspects. The first perpetrator, Malesela Albert Mangena, was tracked down and apprehended the very next day outside Moletje while driving the identified getaway car. His co-conspirators, Velly Segwale and Lesiba Solly Segwale, were arrested shortly thereafter following targeted operations. The legal case was escalated to the Limpopo Division of the High Court in Polokwane. On Friday, 20 June 2025, the trial concluded with all three men—Malesela Albert Mangena, Velly Segwale, and Lesiba Solly Segwale—being found guilty on all counts. They were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, life imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances, seven years for conspiracy to commit murder, ten years for unlawful possession of firearms, and an additional ten years for the illegal possession of ammunition, with all terms ordered to run concurrently with the primary life sentences.