On Tuesday, October 18, Hannes Jacobs (34), Leandra (29), Irene (28) and 2 children were attacked on a farm in the De Wildt area, Bojanala District, Madibeng Municipality, North West.
Hannes, his fiancée Leandra and his pregnant sister-in- law Irene, together with two small children aged five and six were having coffee in the kitchen when they heard male voices outside.
Hannes suspected that something was not right and went to lock the door. Looking outside of the window, he saw three suspects outside. He told the women and children to stay in the kitchen.
The suspects knocked on the door and shouted for him to open. Hannes ran to the bedroom to switch off the radio and without any warning the curtains were drawn and he faced another suspect from outside, pointing a 9mm pistol at him. He fell onto the ground and crawled out of the room back toward the kitchen and the women. He told them to hide in another room.
In the meantime, the suspects were trying to break down the front door and another threw a brick through a bathroom window. Without panicking, Hannes rushed back toward the front door and tried to prevent the assailants from entering.
At that moment, Hannes grabbed his cell phone and called for help on the neighborhood WhatsApp Group. He knew he had to keep the attackers out of the house until help arrived. Struggling to keep the door closed from inside, another suspect plunged a pitchfork through a window next to the door and shouted at Hannes “God command you to open the door”. Hannes kept repeating everything the suspect was saying.
It was a struggle to keep the front door closed and Hannes knew he needed urgent help. He called out to Leandra and together they managed to keep the door from opening. Hannes then saw one of the attackers move back and knew he was going to storm the door but then a shot was heard and the man fell down.
A neighbor who responded to the emergency call arrived at a critical time and found the three suspects trying to force the front door open. When one of the attackers stormed toward him with a pitchfork, he fired a shot and hit him in the arm. The other two quickly ran away.
The residents, members of the De Wildt community-policing forum and the South African Police arrived at the scene. The wounded criminal was arrested and the other two are still at large.
Unfortunately, it is an extremely traumatizing situation and the two small children remain distressed by the ordeal.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
