eNCA | Farmer arrested for murder of two elderly FS farmers
DEWETSDORP – A 30-year-old farmer will soon appear in the Dewetsdorp Magistrate’s Court on two counts of murder.
This after he was arrested in connection with the brutal killing of two elderly farmers in Dewetsdorp late on Saturday night, Free State police said.
On Saturday night at about 11.30pm, the young farmer allegedly went to collect his cattle at a farm he partly owns with other farmers in Rousfontein.
It was alleged that two fellow farmers suspected that the cattle were being stolen when they saw the lorry making the late night pick-up, Sergeant Mosili Ntsika said on Saturday.
“An argument ensued between the suspect and the two elderly men as they were telling him to stop collecting livestock in the middle of the night. Things turned violent when the young man and his accomplice allegedly assaulted the two men with unknown objects. Rathabeng Qathatsi, 68, and Thato Qathatsi, 65, both from Section E in Botshabelo, died at the scene from head wounds.”
Dewetsdorp police arrested the 30-year-old after witnesses alerted them about the incident.
But his accomplice managed to flee on foot.
INFOGRAPHIC: Farm murder numbers conundrum
Police are on the hunt for the second suspect as investigations continue.
Anyone with information on the accomplice’s whereabouts should contact Dewetsdorp detectives on 051-541-5400 or 082-467-6362, Ntsika said.
African News Agency