Farm attack: Bronkhorstspruit couple ‘tortured’ in horrific ordeal

A married couple, aged 64 and 53 respectively, are fighting for their lives after they were attacked on their smallholding in Bronkhorstspruit earlier this week. Waldi and Cynthia van Zyl were subjected to a torturous ordeal, leaving the pair with serious injuries. The gang of robbers was armed during the farm attack, carrying handguns with them.

Bronkhorstspruit farm attack: Crooks torture victims

Details of the horrific crime have emerged. The injuries inflicted upon the victims in Gauteng are horrendous and sadistic, and both of them were airlifted to hospital for further treatment once their son had arrived at the property.

• A total of six men assaulted the middle-age couple, demanding a large sum of money they believed was hidden in the house.
• The pair were tied up while the robbers ransacked the house.
• The men used a grinder to cut Waldi’s leg, snapping some of his arteries.
• Cynthia’s nose was pinched in a vice grip and twisted.
• Waldi sustained skull and facial fractures, whereas Cynthia is undergoing brain scans following the attack.

‘We need more rural safety patrols’ – DA

The DA has lamented the lack of rural safety initiatives in place. MP Adrian Roos has slammed SAPS for allowing farm attacks to spiral out of control, with the Bronkhorstspruit case becoming the latest in a long line of ‘failures’.

“The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for the urgent strengthening of the South African Police Services (SAPS) rural safety patrols after another brutal farm attack in Bronkhorstspruit this week. While SAPS patrol vehicles sit in the government garage for months communities are forced to do their own patrols.”

“We called for urgent action in the area earlier this year after four suspects attacked a Bronkhorstspruit couple and the seven orphans in their care, but SAPS remained unmoved. It is now time for the President to also acknowledge the perpetual fear and danger that our rural communities live and work in.”

DA statement