Six accused who attacked a family in their farm at Gluckstadt near Vryheid were convicted and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment each on two counts of murder.
The accused were sentenced on Friday, 12 July 2019 by the Vryheid High Court after they were found guilty on two counts of murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault with grievous bodily harm, two counts of kidnapping as well as possession of unlicensed firearms. The seventh accused is already serving his sentence for life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to all crimes in November 2017 at the Madadeni High Court.
In 2016, a group of men armed with firearms allegedly attacked the family at their Swart Umfolozi farm home in Gluckstadt.
They opened fire, killing Billy van Rooyen (37) instantly. His father, Lodewwyk van Rooyen (76) was wounded during the attack and his mother, Karlien van Rooyen was not injured during the shooting.
Ronnie Lombard (62) was also wounded during the shooting and he was rushed to hospital where he later died of his injuries. The accused stole an undisclosed amount of cash before they fled the scene. Charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and kidnapping were opened at Gluckstadt police station.
The docket was taken over by the Durban Organised Crime Unit for further investigation. Following sterling work by the team, police officers arrested the accused and recovered three rifles used during the attack.
(Edited by Johanna Molokomme)
