Four men appeared in court over a violent farm attack in Ventersdorp, South Africa, where cattle farmer Donovan Marx was shot, stabbed, and had both ears cut off. Five suspects were initially arrested by police over the weekend, with four facing charges of attempted murder and robbery in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court.
The violence unfolded last Wednesday at the Syferfontein farm near Ventersdorp in South Africa’s North West province.
A group of masked men approached a worker who was mowing the lawn. They were armed with guns. They tied his hands and feet with cable ties. They demanded to know where the 50-year-old farmer was.
When Marx returned home in his vehicle, two of the attackers shot him in the upper body. They dragged him inside the house.
The assailants tied Marx with cable ties. They repeatedly stabbed him and hacked off both his ears.
They ransacked the property, took three firearms from a safe, and fled in the farmer’s vehicle.
The farmworker eventually managed to free himself and raise the alarm, prompting Marx’s transfer to a hospital where surgeons were unable to save his ears.
A bullet had also passed through one of his kidneys, but doctors managed to save the organ, and his family noted he remained stable in intensive care.
Four Suspects Appear in Court
Five men aged between 26 and 56 were arrested following the attack, starting with two suspects apprehended in the Ventersdorp area on Saturday.
Three more suspects were detained the following day in Promosa, near Potchefstroom, by local detectives assisted by the Provincial Anti-Gang Unit.
During Sunday’s operation, officers seized four firearms, clothing, and jewellery, with two of the recovered guns linked directly to the assault.
Four of the suspects—identified as Phindile Alex Nomngcayi, 30, Thomas Thabo Motlhangtlhong, 27, Mothoka Godfrey Mathipa, 56, and Mokhema Jan Maishoane, 53—made their first appearance in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Four men appeared.
The State prosecuted the matter as a planned and premeditated offence
, charging the men with attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, assault, and possession of firearms and ammunition.
A fifth suspect arrested in connection with the incident did not appear in court, as his case has not yet been enrolled.
Ministers Respond to Farm Attack
North West Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Arthur Adams commended the investigation led by Captain Bonita Dry for persistence in following leads and recovering evidential items.
strong, properly investigated case
Ian Cameron, chair of parliament’s police committee
South Africa’s Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp also addressed the violence. The attack has drawn renewed attention to rural safety amid wider public debate, though latest police data indicate that most victims of crime in the country, including those on farms, are black.
place in our country for such senseless and barbaric acts