Farm attack threatens US investment

2012-08-15 08:45

(File, Shutterstock)

Bloemfontein - An investment of millions of dollars in the Free State is at risk after an American farm manager was attacked in Ladybrand.

Volksblad reported that Alan Rogers, 61, was in a stable condition but traumatised after he was stabbed several times in an attack on him and his friend, Mandy Rynhoud.

Rogers was a director of the American agricultural company SBH Farms and had been working as a farm manager on the farm Geluk.

His brother, Dr Stephen Rogers, who was also chairperson of SBH, said on Tuesday it was “no longer possible for them to work like this”. He said their ability to make a difference was increasingly being overwhelmed by crime.

He said he was a representative of a group of American investors who had taken a chance by investing in the new South Africa.

“We invested long-term in the tourism and agricultural sector and brought millions of dollars of foreign investment as well as created a lot of work in the eastern Free State.”

But theft was occurring on a weekly basis and sometimes even more frequently. “Our lives are in danger. It is not possible to work like this.”

One of the suspects had been apprehended by police and a stolen cellphone and some cash had been retrieved.

- News24