Vryheid farmer shot and killed

ANOTHER KwaZulu-Natal farmer has been attacked and killed, this one in the AbaQulusi/Vryheid area. Willem Weidtes (79) of Welkom Farm, between Hlobane and Ngome, was shot and killed at his farm on Monday morning this week.
Mr Weidtes was apparently busy changing a vacuum pump in the milking area on the farm, when he was approached by three men who arrived in a vehicle. They demanded money, and when Mr Weidtes resisted he was shot twice, and died there in his dairy.
The men moved to the house where they demanded money and brutally assaulted Mr Weidtes’ wife and daughter. They robbed the safe of an undisclosed amount of money, tied up the women and a servant, and left in Mr Weidtes’ bakkie. The vehicle was later found abandoned near Alpha mine.
Mr Weidtes had farmed in the area for many years, and is known to have had a cordial relationship with the communities around his farm. It would therefore seem to be just another senseless murder for the sake of short-term benefits of robbery, and another statistic to lend weight to the arguements of the Red October movement.