Armed robbers terrorise winelands
Lack of police resources force farmers to take action
A GANG of armed robbers is terrorising the Cape winelands — home to some of the country’s wealthiest families.
The crime wave has rattled the elite community, which includes heiress Wendy Appelbaum, Johann Rupert and Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson.
Basson’s Mont Marie Estate was targeted earlier this year, and the 30-year-old daughter of business tycoon Jannie Mouton, head of the PSG Group, was held up by five armed men wearing balaclavas on her farm in the Jonkershoek valley outside Stellenbosch in June.
Police this week confirmed an upsurge in farm robberies and an increase in visible policing.
“Indications suggested that criminals target isolated areas, especially on farms where vehicle access is limited,” said police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk. “Operations have been planned with all role players, including the farming communities.”
He declined to comment on a possible gang, but said one person had been arrested. Valley residents revealed that:
The robbers employed nearly identical tactics in several of the raids;
They often moved on foot and were equipped with balaclavas, gloves and backpacks; and
In many cases they were familiar with the surroundings, enabling a fast getaway.
Barry Zetler, owner of a Stellenbosch farm stall and strawberry farm, said a family-owned filling station was attacked last month at about 2am by a heavily armed gang.
“Those were professionals,” said Zetler. “We are concerned about the spate of crime in the area. We have set up community watches and residents are involved in regular patrols along the area.”
Nobody was injured in the
Up to a dozen farms had been robbed recently
garage attack, but an ATM was blown up and cash stolen.
Appelbaum, who owns DeMorgenzon wine estate outside Stellenbosch, said she was aware of the crime wave, but she had faith that the police had the problem under control.
Another wine farm owner, who asked not to be identified because he feared it would deter people from visiting the area, was robbed twice in the past few weeks.
He said up to a dozen farms had been robbed during the most recent crime wave.
Local police are hamstrung by a lack of resources. Last month, the local Eikestad Nuus reported that there were two vehicles to patrol a rural area made up of nearly 400 farms and smallholdings.
The robbers operate under cover of darkness and strike in the early hours of the morning. Residents said they were not targeting tourists, but rather valuable household items. There is also an upsurge in metal theft, including copper cable, typically sold to scrap metal dealers.
Many farm owners, some who settled in the winelands to escape crime in Gauteng, are now beefing up security.
Roelof van der Merwe, chairman of the local community policing forum, said: “We are busy with an anti-crime cam- paign and plan to release the information to the press once it has been properly constituted.”
Police statistics spanning several years reveal a steep rise in robbery involving force or intimidation at residential premises — from zero in 2003-04 to 23 in 2011-12.
Farmer Ernie van der Merwe, who moved to the valley two years ago, said the latest crime wave was a wake-up call for farmers who had never before put up a security fence.
“There are farmers whose families have been living here peacefully for several generations. They got used to it. Now suddenly crime has stuck its head out.”
He said farmers were considering unconventional crimefighting tactics such as infrared cameras and even an airborne drone to relay information to ground patrol teams.
Antoon van Zyl, CEO of com- munity crime prevention group Stellenbosch Watch, said the criminals were becoming more sophisticated. “It’s hard to say if these [latest] attacks are insiders or outsiders. They definitely do their homework,” said Van Zyl.