Game hunter shot dead in robbery
2011-08-06 13:01


Johannesburg - A professional Johannesburg game hunter was shot dead in a robbery while leading American tourists on an expedition in Mpumalanga, police spokesperson Captain Leonard Hlathi said on Saturday.

The hunter, 27, from Fourways, arrived at a guest house near White River on Friday night at 19:00.

The man was accompanied by his wife and a father and son from the US, that he had taken on a hunting Safari.

The group were returning from their trip and booked in at a guest house seven kilometres away from White River.

"The husband and wife were unpacking bags from vehicles. A man emerged from the bushes and followed them to their room.

"As they entered the room, without saying a word the suspect fired a shot. He shot him in the chest and took the wife's bag and ran. The man died on the scene," said Hlathi.

"The father and son were not witnesses. They were already in their rooms and did not see or hear anything. There were told afterwards and they were very shocked. These people had already finished with the Safari and they have a flight home next week," said Hlathi
No arrests were made as yet.

Hazyview DA councillor Ken Robertson called on provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thulani Ntombela, to step up police action in an area he described as, "plagued by criminal activity".

"While the DA regrets such a tragic loss of life, we would also like to express our concern over the damage incidents such as this cause the reputation of South Africa as a tourist destination," he said.

Hlathi defended police work in the area.

"Since the General's arrival crime has decreased tremendously through strategies he brought into the province.

"People can see for themselves in the statistics. Visible policing is now considerable and people can see for themselves," he said.
Hlathi added that "security is not only about police".

"We have been making a call that people must also hire the services of private security guards at their premises," he said.
Hlathi appealed to anyone with information to contact their nearest police station.



This story earlier mistakenly reported that the tourists witnessed the shooting.



- SAPA

This is terrible.

Terrible thing to happen & just up the road from my home.

As I said elsewhere, spending my retirement on a little self sufficient farm with a trout stream with no damn neighbours in the middle of Portugal is looking more attractive as every day goes by!

And it goes on and on. A businessman shot three times in his home in East London yesterday. A woman who lives opposite me, suffers house robbery for the third time this year. You never see a police patrol anymore. Just bloody useless!

quote:

As I said elsewhere, spending my retirement on a little self sufficient farm with a trout stream with no damn neighbours in the middle of Portugal is looking more attractive as every day goes by!

HMMM! Never hear much about Portugese women!
Peter.

Doug,

Say after me:

Duas cervejas frio Por favor.

Which means:

two cold beers please.

More seriously, I guess at that age he may well have had a young family & my condolences to everyone involved in the tragedy......

Does anyone know the name of the victim and/or for that matter, the name of the guest house?

This is terrible. We see only the tip of the iceberg. It comes to our attention in this case because the victim is a safari hunter, instead of a tourist, business traveler, or local.
I feel pretty safe in Zimbabwe or Mozambique, but South Africa scares me. The problem isn't political instability, just good old fashioned crime.

quote:

Originally posted by Marty:
This is terrible. We see only the tip of the iceberg. It comes to our attention in this case because the victim is a safari hunter, instead of a tourist, business traveler, or local.
I feel pretty safe in Zimbabwe or Mozambique, but South Africa scares me. The problem isn't political instability, just good old fashioned crime.

Hope you'll excuse me saying that according to the Global Peace Index here you'll find that RSA scores 118 & Zimbabwe 140.

The good news is Mozambique scores 48 & incidentally, the USA scores 82.

But you're right in that it is terrible and what's more it's getting worse. When I moved here to White River it was gossip if a donkey ran wild in the high street....... now it's pointless murders!

Steve-
Thanks for the link, that's a very interesting site. Near as I can tell, their indices relate to political conflict rather than crime. Nice overview, though.

Looking at that link we have more people as a percentage in prisone than Cuba, Russia, North Korea....

That is pretty sad.

Jim

I have the name but don't know if family have been informed so won't post it.

If anyone needs to know please send me a PM.

He was newly married with no kids.

May he RIP.

The response I always got about to me predicting the inevitable doom and gloom to come from ending apartheid was always " It won't be too bad. We'll see."

How's that doom and gloom working out for you?

If you want to know the future of RSA and the USA read Ilana Mercer's Into the Cannibal's Pot. Prepare for Doom!

A good friend , Afrikaans, said to me the biggest shame is that Madiba did not continue to be President....

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
The response I always got about to me predicting the inevitable doom and gloom to come from ending apartheid was always " It won't be too bad. We'll see."

How's that doom and gloom working out for you?

Doomier and gloomier by the bloody day.

Marty, our problem is political. We have a bunch of total wankers running the place. The higher up the ranks, the greedier the bastards are. We are in the middle of strike season. You must hear the rhetoric, the capitalist whites have stolen the wealth, the whites have stolen the land. Too many whites manage their own companies. And everything is falling apart, some government schools still do not have text books and the year is heading downhill now.
Cause and effect are an unknown.

Hey Steve, peri peri chicken on the coals? ? ?

HMMM! Never hear much about Portugese women!
Peter.[/QUOTE]

Did you check the kitchen?

I usually just lurk and learn from all the seasoned members, but something about this shooting/robbery just doesn't smell right.

#1. The so called thief just entered after the wife and fired one shot that killed the hunter.

#2. He just grabbed the wife's purse and ran off.

Possibly I am overly suspicious but:

#3. Why just shoot the hunter without even uttering a word and then just grab the womans purse and run. He had to have been watching as everyone arrived and so knew thst there was another adult that he could have robbed also.

#4. If this was just a robbery, why didn't he at least take the hunters wallet and any other valuables.

I wonder if stealing the womans purse was a ruse to make a murder for hire look like a robbery.

Again, fishy, very fishy.

Very sad.

Something like this happened when I was in Grahmstown near the Siski in '05

This stuff needs to be sorted out soon or the industry will suffer.

Tragic indeed...May he RIP.

I've been given a couple 'links' from several people that have shown to indicate increasing harm has been happening to owners/families of guest farms in RSA.

Can anyone on the ground there confirm this happening more frequent than in the past?

Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by Singleshot03:
Looking at that link we have more people as a percentage in prisone than Cuba, Russia, North Korea....

That is pretty sad.

Jim

that's because they just execute them in less than a year and we take 10 plus years- if the ACLU ever allows it at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Freestate101:
I usually just lurk and learn from all the seasoned members, but something about this shooting/robbery just doesn't smell right.

#1. The so called thief just entered after the wife and fired one shot that killed the hunter.

#2. He just grabbed the wife's purse and ran off.

Possibly I am overly suspicious but:

#3. Why just shoot the hunter without even uttering a word and then just grab the womans purse and run. He had to have been watching as everyone arrived and so knew thst there was another adult that he could have robbed also.

#4. If this was just a robbery, why didn't he at least take the hunters wallet and any other valuables.

I wonder if stealing the womans purse was a ruse to make a murder for hire look like a robbery.

Again, fishy, very fishy.

It is becoming more and more common, shoot the victim on sight. Brutality in home invasions is increasing, severe beatings, brutal rape and sodomy seem to be becoming the norm. God help old folk on farms, it seems as though they suffer terribly before death comforts them. It is all symtomatic of a failing state. In the instance of drunk drivers, forensic laboratorys, what is left of them, cannot cope, so the courts after two years, throw the case out. The other problem with justice is the large number of dockets that disappear or something that has happened a couple of times, the storage area for case dockets is set alight.
Rotten, rotten, thanks Jimmy, Henry et al.

Doug,

Peri Peri chicken on the braii sounds good to me but let's not forget all that wonderful cold water sea food they have there as well! - Sea bass and crab are especially good!

Freestate

As I understand it, he went out to the car to get his wife's handbag and they just stepped out of the bush, shot him, grabbed the bag and ran.... but I'm sure the coming days will tell us the whole story. Hope to hell they catch the bastards! - They're a bit vague about where it happened but my guess is probably one of the guest houses or hotels along the Hazyview Road and if not there, then one of the places close to the new airport. Either way, both are close to my place here in the country estate. - I reckon I'm going just in time with this sort of shit going on!

To (badly) misquote Kipling:

If Africa was, what Africa seems and not the Africa of our dreams........

The victim was the son in law of one of my schoolfriends, just got the news on facebook.

I have heard that that sort of thing happens over here in the states.

quote:

Originally posted by SteveGl:
I have heard that that sort of thing happens over here in the states.

It probably happens all over the world, but not with the increasing frequency that it occurs here. In most other places, there is the knowledge and hope that the perpetrators will be brought to book. Here, should you have the unmitigating gall to request police assistence, you will be told one of several stories as to why they cannot respond. The usual one is that there is no vehicle available.
The lunch time news on the radio today, reported that a women was abducted by two men near Port Elizabeth last night. She was then taken to a house and there severeley beaten. She was then thrown outside and perished in the cold during the night. The Daily Dispatch, tomorrow and Tuesday will report at least ten to fifteen cases of violent crime in this area alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:
The usual one is that there is no vehicle available.

That's usually because they're all being used to drive to the bank, shops, supermarket, post office or pub etc.

That's how it is in this area anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:

quote:

Originally posted by Freestate101:
I usually just lurk and learn from all the seasoned members, but something about this shooting/robbery just doesn't smell right.

#1. The so called thief just entered after the wife and fired one shot that killed the hunter.

#2. He just grabbed the wife's purse and ran off.

Possibly I am overly suspicious but:

#3. Why just shoot the hunter without even uttering a word and then just grab the womans purse and run. He had to have been watching as everyone arrived and so knew thst there was another adult that he could have robbed also.

#4. If this was just a robbery, why didn't he at least take the hunters wallet and any other valuables.

I wonder if stealing the womans purse was a ruse to make a murder for hire look like a robbery.

Again, fishy, very fishy.

It is becoming more and more common, shoot the victim on sight. Brutality in home invasions is increasing, severe beatings, brutal rape and sodomy seem to be becoming the norm. God help old folk on farms, it seems as though they suffer terribly before death comforts them. It is all symtomatic of a failing state. In the instance of drunk drivers, forensic laboratorys, what is left of them, cannot cope, so the courts after two years, throw the case out. The other problem with justice is the large number of dockets that disappear or something that has happened a couple of times, the storage area for case dockets is set alight.
Rotten, rotten, thanks Jimmy, Henry et al.

Scriptus,

This CONFIRMS all the things I've been hearing...

Stay safe!

RSA....into the cannibal's pot.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
The response I always got about to me predicting the inevitable doom and gloom to come from ending apartheid was always " It won't be too bad. We'll see."

How's that doom and gloom working out for you?

This is the most inhuman and insensitive comment that one can make in this context. So apartheid & its preceding regimes was good for the 25+million Africans for 400 years was it? Do you think 200 years of oppression can be nullified in 20 years & then you blame the blacks in general?

If you know something about government responsibility you will know that this is the consequence of apartheid & its preceding regimes not integrating the rest of the population & creating a minority oasis which is artificial and unsustainable.

A decent human being is murdered & his wife is a widow. Two hunters' memory of a safari has been ruined by this horrible murder & you want to talk about the merits of not ending apartheid!

I really don't think we should debate the merits of apartheid here, but the facts of the matter is simply that under apartheid, more schools and houses got built, the state hospitals in all parts of the country were some of the best in the world, crime was but a fraction of what it is now, and life is exceedingly cheap over here at present.

There's a fine line between racism and realism over here at present, whether one likes to acknowledge that or not.

I knew that this debate would go down this slippery track the moment apartheid was brought in.

Yes all those things like schools, hospitals & roads were built during apartheid. But how many people benefited from it? A very small minority. During that period a small number of farmers with average holdings & using local labour at very low wages enjoyed a very high quality lifestyle that no farmer in any other country in the world could have enjoyed or even dreamed of. Farming (except some elitist / niche products like truffles etc) by its definition is one of the lowest paying and highest risk profession unless it is heavily subsidised / protected / artificially controlled.

For all the schools, hospitals etc built during apartheid there were an even higher number of indigenous Africans and other ethnic groups who were killed, imprisoned with out trial and the huge number of tribes, villages and families whose homes were confiscated & were forcibly moved out. All that is beyond recovery & I am amazed that people still talk favourably about apartheid!

What does all that have to do with this poor PH who was murdered and his family who are grieving now?

Now we know the name of that unfortunate PH - but what is the name of the guest house where the incident took place?

Heard this on the radio whilst on the road to the airport in Joberg Sat morn.

Nakihunter:

In the U.S. there are folks who blame everything on the legacy of slavery. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are properly called "welfare pimps".

In RSA, maybe the name should be "apartheid pimps".... folks who,like Julius Melema, don't want to do anything positive, just profit from cultivated hate.

Apartheid and the American form of slavery were never justified, but it's about time that the victims of those horrors grew up, accepted responsibility for their own future, used whatever "good" that can be salvaged from the "bad" legacy and started doing something other than oppressing their own people for profit and power.

Just because apartheid existed it isn't an excuse to semi-condone lawlessness, crumbling infrastructure, political oppression and race-based economics.

The folks who pine for the "good ol' days" may well be racists, but more likely, are just "reactionists" to the totally unnecessarily racist policies of the ANC and the ruin of the country. The fact that the perpetrators of the destruction are all black, just makes it easier to paint with a broad brush of one color.

It would be so simple for RSA to be the jewel of Africa, but alas, like with the Democrats in America, using the race-card (by both apartheid pimps and apartheid lovers) is a lot easier than actually putting in practice Martin King's hope that folks would be judged by their character rather than the color of their skin.

God help RSA with Mandela dies. The swirl of the toilet will get tighter and tighter when his moral authority dies with him.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
I knew that this debate would go down this slippery track the moment apartheid was brought in.

Yes all those things like schools, hospitals & roads were built during apartheid. But how many people benefited from it? A very small minority. During that period a small number of farmers with average holdings & using local labour at very low wages enjoyed a very high quality lifestyle that no farmer in any other country in the world could have enjoyed or even dreamed of. Farming (except some elitist / niche products like truffles etc) by its definition is one of the lowest paying and highest risk profession unless it is heavily subsidised / protected / artificially controlled.

For all the schools, hospitals etc built during apartheid there were an even higher number of indigenous Africans and other ethnic groups who were killed, imprisoned with out trial and the huge number of tribes, villages and families whose homes were confiscated & were forcibly moved out. All that is beyond recovery & I am amazed that people still talk favourably about apartheid!

What does all that have to do with this poor PH who was murdered and his family who are grieving now?

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:

Hope you'll excuse me saying that according to the Global Peace Index here you'll find that RSA scores 118 & Zimbabwe 140.

The good news is Mozambique scores 48 & incidentally, the USA scores 82.

Move to Australia Steve. We score 18. Portugal might be 17 but their wine really is shit.

Naki, your homeland is still rotten with results of the caste system. The land you have adopted has a blemished past. Your spoutings indicate a true liberal's lobsided view of South Africa. You have never been here and only have what the liberals want you or what you select to believe. Sure, there were things that took place that no-one in his right mind would do, but they are in reality so few when compared to other histories. If you think that racism was sole prerogative of the National Government, you are wrong. It has,is and will always be around, no matter how many laws are in place to combat it. Even in New Zealand, non-racism is but a thin veneer of civility, and from what I hear and read, it is simmering barely below the surface.
Your reference to cheap labour is a good indicator of your selective liberal beliefs. The Sub-continent, your birthplace, has a pathetic labour record, and is world renowned for cheap labour.
If you thought that the advent of an African Socialist government would be the end of racism in South Africa, again you would be wrong. Young punk blacks think nothing of calling one a "f***ing whitey or a f***ing white sh*t" in public for any real or imagined insult. An insult can be anything as trivial as hooting at a driver skipping a red traffic light. Most of the young punks know nothing of South Africa prior to 1990.
Further Dear Naki, take the time and trouble to learn a little of the so-called liberation armies and their modus operandi against the civilian populations, which by far in the majority, were ther own people.
Have a look at what the ANC did to their own members in their camps in Angola.
Just for a comparison, have a look at the rest of Africa. How do you explain nearly every other county's lack of governance. Surely not "apartheid," then what? No doubt you will have someone to blame.
At the end of the day, it is only bad governance in South Africa, but bad governance by a ruling party which with its own racial policies has driven out all qualified administrators, Black, Indian, so called Coloured, White, and replaced them with party cadres, most of whom have no experience in public administration and no interest in learning the job or in doing a day's work.
Yes, we mourn the loss of a young PH, and yes we mourn the more than 9000 farm murders that have taken place since 1994, and yes, the anger builds. Apologists like yourself add to that anger.
BTW Naki, the Nationalist Government only came into power in 1948, which equates to 46 years. Forty-six in which they did a lot. If one is to compare Africa over the last 80,000 years, which I believe is when the human race spread to the rest of the world, and what took place in the rest of the world in that time, as to what took place in Africa, one can only shake one's head. Development only took place over the last three hundred years and the most over the last one hundred years. According to most liberals, the white colonials were really a bad lot.

Thank you Scriptus.

Sushine, I think it happened at Glory Hill Country Manor.

quote:

Originally posted by Code4:

Move to Australia Steve. We score 18. Portugal might be 17 but their wine really is shit.[/QUOTE]

I don't think we'd get into Oz because of the points system mate and even if we did, it'd be helluva expensive cost of living....... I'm also not sure I could live with all that PC bullshit you guys get fed nowadays either.