Brutal killing of elderly couple rocks village
Two teenagers in court as community mourns farmer and his wife
She was positive, she got along with local people ... she was confident that she knows the people and she speaks the language — both of them could speak Venda fluently
Jurie Schoeman, the brother of Ina Cloete
I was about to call Skori to ask her if she knew the couple that was murdered. I never thought it could be her until I saw pictures in a newspaper
Community activist Edward Chauke
● Retired farmer Louis Cloete, 74, was overjoyed when he could return to the farmhouse he grew up in — even as a tenant. It also meant that even though he had sold the farm to the government, which signed it over to a local community as part of land reform, all was not lost.
This is where two generations before him had farmed, and where he and wife Ina, 66, raised their son and two daughters. Since 2004 they had shared the space after the community property association that won the land in a restitution claim agreed the couple could rent the house.
The association ran its farming activities in collaboration with another farmer on the rest of the land.
This peaceful co-existence was shattered on April 20 when two young men allegedly attacked and killed the couple before setting the house alight.
Engetelo Advice Sambo and Mukhethwa Goodman Magoma, both 19, appeared in court last week on charges of housebreaking, robbery, murder and arson. They were not asked to plead and the matter was postponed to June 30.
The Cloetes’ house was ransacked and several items stolen, including firearms and a bakkie.
Limpopo police launched a 72-hour activation which led to the accused being arrested in Hasani Dakari, a village in the area, a day after the incident.
Ina had felt like part of the community, said her brother Jurie Schoeman.
He spoke to his sister the day before her death. “I often raised the issue with her of them being in a vulnerable situation all by themselves on the farm.”
Their house is partially fenced off from the rest of the farm.
“She was positive, she got along with local people ... she was confident that she knows the people and she speaks the language — both of them could speak Venda [Tshivenda] fluently,” he said.
Schoeman, who struggled to hold back tears as he spoke, said his sister had been alert, enjoyed a good working relationship with the police and knew what was happening in the area.
Residents knew Ina well as she often visited villages around Vuwani and knew many people, especially in the villages of Hasani Dakari, where the two suspects live.
In Hasani Dakari, Ina was affectionately referred to as “Skori”, short for skorokoro (a worn out vehicle), which is what she would call those she was close to.
Community activist Edward Chauke found out that an elderly couple had been murdered in Levubu only a day after police had arrested the two teenagers in his village.
“I was about to call Skori to ask her if she knew the couple that was murdered. I never thought it could be her until I saw pictures in a newspaper,” Chauke said.
He described Ina as a warm-hearted woman who was very friendly. “She visited my house several times and my wife knew her very well. One thing about Skori, every time she greeted you she insisted on a hug.”
He said residents were shocked when they found out that it was the Cloetes who had been murdered, allegedly by teenagers.
Violent crime is not something residents are used to here along the Livuvhu River near Thohoyandou and Vuwani, said the chair of the Soutpansberg District Agricultural Union, Fanie Havenga.
The last attack he can remember was six years ago when a farmer returning home in the evening disturbed robbers in his farmhouse and was stabbed to death.
Otherwise, farmers see petty criminals who steal bananas, avocados and macadamia nuts, he said.
Allegedly, after murdering the Cloetes the suspects stole their firearms and other household items, which they loaded into the back of the bakkie.
Havenga said the Cloetes could have been chosen because they were seen as “soft targets” as they were elderly.
When the Sunday Times visited the gutted remains of the house, dozens of partly damaged hunting trophies were lying about in what was once the lounge.
There was a strong smell of smoke and most of the furniture had been destroyed by the fire.
The couple’s children, Andries Cloete and Ria Austin, are still struggling to find closure as they don’t understand how such a gruesome crime befell their parents, who had always lived in the area.
“It’s still very early, I’m very sad as I’ve suffered a great loss but I am not at an angry stage yet. I have a lot of faith in everyone involved, the police and the justice system,” Austin said.
Her brother said the only other incident of crime that his parents had experienced was in August last year when someone broke into their farmhouse while they were away and stole firearms.
“They just changed some of the burglar bars ... I don’t think anybody [here] thinks they would be a target of such violence,” he said.
A community leader in Hasani Dakari, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Sunday Times that residents had grown concerned when they heard that the people suspected of the crime were from their village.
“I know those boys, they don’t have matric as they dropped out of school,” he said.
“One of the boys used to do piece jobs on farms in the area but we were surprised that they would be arrested for such a horrific crime.”