Shot dog protects dead farmer

2008-07-16 09:03

Buks Viljoen

Johannesburg - A wounded boerboel lay down on top of his murdered master after the young man was shot dead on Monday night on a farm near Komatipoort.

Armed robbers killed Jan-Daniel Venter, 21, on the farm Blikkor near Komatipoort where he lived with his father Jan, 50.

Both worked as contractors on a nearby farm.

Jan-Daniel, who was studying law part-time, was shot several times during the robbery, which took place while he was watching 7de Laan with his father in the living room. He apparently rushed at the robbers with a chair in his hands.

According to a person who was on the scene shortly after the attack, Jan-Daniel's boerboel started barking like crazy and the next moment, the three robbers barged in.

'We want money'

"We want money, we want money," they apparently shouted in broken English.

Jan-Daniel was shot in the chest when he wanted to protect his father. He collapsed in the living room and died shortly afterwards, said Constable Richard Khumalo, spokesperson of the Komatipoort police.

His father, Jan, was tied up by the robbers. They stole several household items, as well as a .38 revolver and fled with his Nissan bakkie. He managed to wriggle free and ran about 2km to the house of a farm foreman to get help.

When police arrived at the house, the boerboel - who had also been shot by the robbers - was lying on top of Jan-Daniel's body.

"It looked like he was trying to protect his master," said Beeld's source.

Jan-Daniel's mother, Superintendent Elarda Venter, is the commanding officer of the Modjadjiskloof (Duiwelskloof) police station in Limpopo. She had been on the farm on Sunday to fetch her other son, Elardus, 17, who had visited his father and brother during the school holidays.

Khumalo said the murderers were suspected to be from Mozambique. "They spoke a perfect Mozambican Shangaan dialect."

Five 9mm cartridges were found on the scene. The stolen bakkie is still missing.

- Beeld