Johannesburg – Police are questioning a farmworker on Sunday after a Thabazimbi game farmer was robbed and locked in a safe with his dead wife and a guest.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ronel Otto said that, because of poor reception in the remote area where the couple lived, some details of the murder, which took place on Friday night but was only discovered on Saturday, have been clarified.
Magrieta Petronella Res and her husband Bruno were welcoming a guest at their Matlopi farm in a remote part of the Limpopo bushveld when two people overpowered them.
They demanded the keys to the walk-in safe and locked the three inside, but not before shooting Res in her head and her husband in the arm.
Otto said the safe had no ventilation and Bruno Res bled profusely from the wound to his arm.
He and their guest had to spend until noon on Saturday inside the safe with Magrieta’s body until they were freed by visitors who heard them crying out for help.
Bruno Res was taken to a hospital for treatment. Their friend was not injured.
Forensic specialists and trackers with dogs worked the scene and arrested a farmworker who worked on a different farm for being in possession of ammunition.
Police also believe that, based on tracks, four people may have been involved in the robbery and murder.
Five firearms including hunting rifles, a 9mm pistol and a shotgun were stolen.