'They wanted to shoot me'
2009-12-16 07:00
Bloemfontein - "They were extremely nervous and just wanted to shoot me," said Gerhard Venter of the two men who held him hostage for about 20 hours.
The men were shot dead by police snipers on Tuesday morning.
Venter was taken hostage at about 10:00 on Monday morning after going to the aid of another farmer who'd been attacked. He attributes the fact that he's still alive to his ability to stay calm.
"If they saw something looking even a little out of place, they'd say they're going to shoot me. If there was a bakkie driving too close to us, they wanted to shoot me."
Several of the farmers in the Petrusburg area had heard of his kidnapping and followed his bakkie. Venter said he had to make several phone calls to convince them to stay far away from them.
At ease
"I obeyed every one of their orders and tried to stay calm, since I realised that would be the only way I would make it out of the situation alive."
Venter said he chatted to his captors and at one stage came very close to convincing them to hand themselves over to the police. He said the presence of the police's special task force put him at ease, since he realised they were trained specifically for situations like these.
Police negotiators tried to convince the men to hand themselves over, and Venter also spoke to the men and tried to resolve the situation without any loss of life.
"I kept trying to gain my captors' trust. By about 21:30 I finally managed to do so, and while we were chatting, I tried to convince them to hand themselves over."
At about 03:00 on Tuesday morning, the attackers agreed to put an end to the drama by daybreak. At 05:00, however, they changed their minds and once again demanded that the road be cleared.
"They wanted me to go to Bloemfontein with them, draw money, fill up the bakkie, and then they'd let me go."
By about 06:00 it became clear that the men were not going to surrender.
"The police negotiators and I kept trying to talk them into surrendering, but it didn't work."
Shots fired
Venter said when one of the men climbed out of the vehicle shortly after 07:00 to urinate, two shots were fired almost simultaneously, killing the two hostage takers. At that stage, Venter was sitting on the middle seat, and the men died on either side of him.
"I'm extremely grateful, not for the loss of life, but that the police were eventually able to end the situation. It could have ended very differently," he said.
Although he found himself in this situation because he'd wanted to help a fellow farmer, Venter said he wouldn't think twice about doing the same thing again.
"I would do it again tomorrow, because I know my neighbours would do the same for me. We farmers have to stand together at times like this."