The owners of a well-known wedding venue in the Swartland were tied up over the weekend and detained for four hours before they could call for help.
According to the Malmesbury Security Structure and Farm Guard, they were called to the Fynbos Estate, just outside Malmesbury, after 22:00 on Saturday night to help locate three suspects.
According to the farm guard, the couple, a 70-year-old man and his 68-year-old wife, were tied up with cables. They assaulted and beat the man while the woman sustained a slight scratch on her face.
According to the farm guard, they were overpowered and tied up around 18:00. They were detained for four hours.
At one point, one of the suspects stayed with the man in the house while another suspect brought the woman to a second home to take possessions there as well.
The fourth suspect watched the area so they would not be caught.
The suspects subsequently fled and law enforcement was called.
Laptops, cellphones and R3 000 in cash were allegedly stolen.
The farm guard worked with other organizations to pursue the suspects. The area around the farm was cordoned off and a large circle was formed around the farm to search for the suspects.
By 02:00 on Sunday morning, they were called back to the farm when the same suspects allegedly threw a stone at the owners’ child’s vehicle.
They then expanded the search by about 12 km, but by sunrise the suspects were gone. They apparently fled in the direction of Ilingelethu, also just outside Malmesbury.
The owners did not want to speak to the media through their receptionist.
They were still “severely traumatized” and did not want to comment further on the incident.
Capt. Provincial police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the incident.
“The police were called to a farm near Malmesbury on Saturday night after a complaint of house robbery was received. “The three suspects threatened the man and woman with knives and a panga,” he said.
According to Van Wyk, an “unknown” amount of cash was given to the suspects and they fled the scene.
No one has been arrested yet.
