Farmer Freddie Tolman (52) from near Hartenbos on Tuesday night told his wife he’d rather stay in South Africa than in Australia, because he knows what to expect here.
Less than 12 hours later, Tolman, who farmed with pigs and owned an abattoir, died in a farm attack.
Tolman, from the farm Outeniquabosch about 5 km from Hartenbos, was found dead yesterday morning in his bakkie.
His wife, Marian, said they watched TV news on Tuesday night about the hostage drama in Australia when he made the remark.
Capt. Malcolm Pojie, a police spokesman, told Beeld that Tolman was ambushed between 06:00 and 06:30 by five attackers as he was on his way to pick up the workers.
“A tree trunk was apparently placed in the road. Tolman did not stop and kept on driving. Shots were fired at him.”
Tolman continued driving until he reached the tarmac road intersection to Hartenbos – where he was found dead, still seated upright. There was a gunshot wound to his upper body, said Pojie.
Two of the attackers threatened the occupants of a Chev Avio who stopped near the bakkie to conduct an investigation. They broke the window on the driver’s side and pulled out the occupants and drove away together with other men who had been hiding in the bush.
The occupants of the Chev Avio were not injured.
The car was later found abandoned near Dana Bay.
According to Marian, her husband “had an open hand to people”, and he was not hypocritical.
He always started every morning between 06:00 and 06:30 to collect workers.
Yesterday morning she heard a shot rang out and immediately went to the living room. The dog was restless and she went back to the room. Soon after, the housekeeper told her there’s a bunch of men chasing her husband.
She immediately called their one son, Eugene.
According to Eugene, his mother said there was a problem. “My father went off the road and people ran after him. I grabbed my gun and rushed to the scene.”
“I found my father in the vehicle. He sat in the car, but he already passed away.”
“Eugene said there were definitely shots fired. There was a bullet-hole in the front window but he did not see any obvious entry wound on his dad at first glance.”
He expressed the idea that his dad may have died of a heart-attack.
The police found spent gun-cartridges at the scene.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
