Farm employee shot and killed during armed robbery

MARBLE HALL – Three suspects shot and killed a 39 year-old employee at a citrus farm outside Marble Hall on Saturday, 25 July 2020.

According to the police, the 39 year-old deceased employee, Jeremias Solomone Macheque, was seated inside a vehicle, busy paying farm workers their wages on behalf of his employer when he was accosted by about three unknown men.

Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, Limpopo Provincial Police Spokesperson, said the unknown men ordered the deceased to give them the money while one of them pointed a gun at him.

Mojapelo said the deceased was then shot and the suspects grabbed the money, pulled him out of the vehicle and drove off in it.

He said the vehicle was later found abandoned about a kilometer away from the crime scene. “Members of the Emergency Medical Services certified the employee dead on arrival at the scene,” said Mojapelo.

Mojapelo said police in Marble Hall have launched a manhunt for the suspects. Anyone with information about the suspects is requested to contact Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Makgopa at 082 565 8446, the crime stop number 08600 10111 or the nearest police station.

The Democratic Alliance in Limpopo has strongly condemned the attack at the JJ Bekker Boerdery in Tooitskraal.

The DA said it was extremely concerned that the farm attack was the third in less than a week in Limpopo.

The party said on 19 July 2020, there was an attack at Dwaalboom and on 22 July 2020, a farmer was brutally assaulted during a recurring attack at Tinmyne.

Jacques Smalle, DA Limpopo provincial leader, said it was clear that the South African Police Service (SAPS) had lost a war against crime in rural areas and that communities were under siege from criminals.

Smalle said the DA’s request for the debate of national importance in the National Assembly on the scourge of farm attacks and murders nationally had been granted and they would highlight the plight of all rural communities.

He said he DA in Limpopo would be submitting questions to the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Mavhule Lerule – Ramakhanya, next week to determine the extent of the roll-out of SAPS Rural Safety policy.

“The DA would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Macheque. We further thank the community organizations and private individuals who are assisting with the manhunt for Mr. Macheques’s killers,” concluded Smalle.