Brutal robbery leaves factory owner dead and wife critical

Jackie Lu's wife is currently fighting for her life in ICU.

Jackie Lu - photo submitted.

Long-time Newcastle resident and business owner, Jackie Lu and his wife were brutally attacked at their Industrial Area factory early yesterday morning (August 16), just after 7am.

Jackie has sadly passed away, while his wife is fighting for her life in ICU.

Sources have indicated the suspects include a full-time employee and a casual worker brought in to assist with extra work.

Lizzy Arumugam of Newcastle SAPS Corporate Communications confirmed the incident and committed to providing more detail for this week’s print edition of the Newcastle Advertiser (available from August 20). At the time of publishing, she could not confirm if any suspects had been apprehended.

Local councillor, Alex Liu said he has seen CCTV footage of the attack, which a colleague of Mr Lu described as ‘brutal’.

“The footage shows two men entering the property and knocking down the owner before dragging him to his living quarters at the back,” said Cllr Liu. “The motive appears to be robbery; they demanded access to the safe.”

Cllr Liu added that a suspect made away with a vehicle, which was later recovered in Madadeni, and an undisclosed amount of money after the safe was ransacked.

“According to the surgeon who fought to save Mr Lu’s life, despite many hours of surgery the wounds to his heart were too great and he passed away shortly after 9pm.”

Owner of Newcastle Industrial Laundry and friend of Mr Lu, Faizal Cassim said the attack has created more fear amid an already volatile situation between employees and factory owners in the Industrial Area.

“This is the second murder in just over a month, so we are all on high alert. We are very worried about where this is all leading to, especially coupled with the recent protests about UIF,” said Mr Cassim.

Mr Lu’s factory, Zoan Clothing was apparently one of those in the midst of a labour dispute regarding UIF payments. A meeting was held between the Chinese business community and the Department of Labour last week, but there has been no resolution to date.

“I’ve known Jackie for a very long time. He just recently opened a second factory and employed many locals. What happened to him and his wife was disturbing and brutal. They were both stabbed multiple times,” said Mr Cassim.

Mr Cassim’s full story on the brutal murder of the man he called a friend and his thoughts on the recent increase in violent crime in the Industrial Area, is in this week’s edition of the Newcastle Advertiser.

The Newcastle Advertiser extends its condolences to the grieving family and friends during this time.

ALSO READ: Protest action against ‘ill treatment of employees’ closes off main roads

Correction: The original photo used (below) was factory owner, Peter Chen, who was killed a few weeks ago.