Farm attacks: ‘Not a matter of if, but when you become a victim’

Celeste and Heyman Schmulian, who lived on their plot in Cullinan for 22 years, moved to Pretoria after they were attacked in June last year.

They now live in a gated community.

Celeste is still not able to drive on the road where their home stands.

Heyman denied his trauma to the point of collapse, four days after the attack, with bleeding on his lungs and prostate.

Both in their 70s, the attack exacerbated underlying health conditions.

They have been living in the suburbs since October last year and haven’t unpacked yet.

“We are rebuilding our lives again. But our entire life there has been taken away. None of that stuff is usable now.”

Celeste now works as an au pair to keep busy and earn money. Heyman lives off a menial pension.

The Schmulians were ambushed by five attackers one June morning. Heyman’s niece and her children had gone to visit them.

Heyman recalled how the “little ones” jumped into bed with them. Celeste got up to make coffee, when Heyman heard a shrill cry for help.

“When I looked up, they pushed the 9mm between my eyes. The devil was in their eyes, their eyes flashed, I don’t know if they were on drugs or if it was an act to manipulate us, but they just shouted at us all the time.”

Farmers are pictured outside Senekal magistrates court on the 6th of October 2020. The support was in retaliation of the murder of 22 year old Brendin Horner. When the crowd heard the suspects were still at the courtroom, they attempted to break into the holding cells and the situation turned volatile, with police cars being turned over and set on fire. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark

Celeste was repeatedly beaten while being interrogated for their possessions.

“They did nothing to me,” Heyman recalled.

Their possessions were loaded into Celeste’s car.

One of the attackers, she recalled, kept apologising for tying her up and wiped the blood off her face each time they hit her. She took pity on the youngster, who she said was hired as a translator and promised a stake in the loot after the attack.

It was he who hid her iPhone under a pillow and gestured for her to keep quiet.

Heyman said the previous day, his neighbour’s worker had told him he had seen some men looking for work on his plot. After a quick inspection, he decided to let it go.

“An attack didn’t even cross my mind,” he said. “We’d had a crime-free life, apart from a few incidents, we weren’t scared to live there.

“We didn’t have burglar bars. I think back to, if we had burglar bars and dogs we may have been safer,” he said and trailed off.

Heyman managed to cut himself loose and call the police. They visited the scene once, the couple said. Their statements were never completed “because we weren’t murdered, so the case didn’t get attention”.

“I’m more afraid of a policeman,” said Celeste.

The couple’s plot remains unsold, but they do not intend to go back.

Police incapable of stopping the scourge

Bones left from an animal killed by trespassers on Jan van der Bank’s farm in Hammanskraal, 16 September 2020. Jan’s farm is slowly being taken over by illegal intruders to the point that he is unable to prevent from entering his land. Picture: Jacques Nelles

The owner of a security company who regularly works with the community police forum and police, revealed that rural areas to the North of Pretoria are simply too big for police to cover.

Piet* explained his business analyses and processes information left at the scene of an attack. In this way, they attempt to work out criminal patterns, information which they regularly give to police.

“They’re really opportunistic. And they’re not scared. Sometimes we get up to four incidents in one night. It all depends on how fast they can get away and how quickly the victims can let us know what’s happening.

“Everything got bigger, but police stations stayed the same size,” he said.

He added that the way in which the SA Police Service documented farm and plot attack and murder scenes left much to be desired, saying that there “are no opportunities for cooperation”.

Piet also tries to educate farmers about safety.

“We appeal to people not to go outside and shoot because you give everything you have away. Criminals know their patterns and routines.”

Most use burner phones and wear casual clothes under the clothes they wear when they commit the crimes in a bid to escape the scene unnoticed.

Being a victim of a farm or plot attack, or even murder, for Piet, is not a case of if, but rather when.

Illegal activities such as land grabs, illegal logging and sand mining in Pretoria North has escalated incidents of crime in recent years.

According to Piet, the sand mining industry is worth a lot of money. It is the process of removing top soil and river sand, which is sold for building sand.

Trucks arrive regularly while excavators illegally dig sand from private properties in the area.

“Land grabs won’t happen where sand mining takes place. The ground is too uneven to build on,” he said, adding that attacks on farms and plots are escalating, in line with the recent boom of illicit sand mining.

Illegal logging and sand mining contribute to the fear

Jan van der Bank inspects the fence on his farm in Hammanskraal, 16 September 2020. Jan’s farm is slowly being taken over by illegal intruders that he is unable to prevent from entering his land. The intruders break and even steal sections of his fence regularly. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Illegal loggers invade plots and farms to chop down trees which are cut up, bagged and sold. This is currently taking place on Jan and Rosemarie van der Bank’s plot.

They live near Hammanskraal and regularly hear the dull thud of pangas. Their transformer is also ransacked for illegal electricity connections and he, too, has been attacked.

Although he told the loggers that there was dry wood they were welcome to take, they said it was too heavy to chop down. One bakkie load full of wood brings in about R300 for the loggers, who arrive on Van der Bank’s farm almost daily with a Pikitup bin to load the wood into, pangas and sometimes a dog.

A plot across the road from the Van der Banks was illegally invaded after the owner agreed to sell his land to a neighbour.

Van der Bank recalled a deal was struck between the two land owners, where R1.5 million would be paid. However, shortly after R500,000 was exchanged, squatters began building their homes outside his property, threatening to kill him. When the owner left, fearing for his life, the squatters ransacked his home and burnt the property down.

“In an hour and a half, a three-bedroomed house was plundered and set alight. They also set alight crops from a nearby farmer because of the fire. It cost R8 million in damages.”

Van der Bank has been offered R400,000 for his land, which is valued at R4 million.

Louis Meintjes, former President of TLU SA, points out areas where farm attacks and murders have taken place on a map of the Cullinan area, 15 September 2020. Picture: Jacques Nelles

“Everyone says move, but where do I go? I can’t leave this place. This is our lifestyle.”

Repeated attempts were made to get comment from the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development, the department of environment, forestry and fisheries and the SA Police Service, but no responses were received at the time of publishing.

* Not his real name.
– nicas@citizen.co.za

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