Woman (65) charged for killing farm invader
An elderly female farmer who was attacked on her farm near Grootfontein on Tuesday morning has been charged with murder. This after she hit her attacker on the head with a hammer during a scuffle.
The 65-year-old Marieta Wilhelm from farm Fokshof in the Maroelaboom area said she lives in constant fear, adding that her farm has repeatedly been targeted by cattle thieves.
It is also the second time since 2016 that Wilhelm, who farms on her own, has been attacked.
From her hospital bed where she is under police guard, Wilhelm narrated that the incident took place at 05:00 on Tuesday morning. She said the attacker was waiting for her next to the house.
She went out to feed her dogs and when she tried to enter the house again, the suspect attacked her from behind with a log.
She recognised him as a neighbour's farm worker. He first hit her over the head, then her neck, arms, back and legs, she said. "The blood flowed and I fell. I then fired shot after shot to warn him. Then he grabbed a hammer and came at me. I yanked the hammer back to defend myself, and hit him on the head."
Living in fear
Wilhelm said she lives in fear and "goes to the bathroom with her gun, takes baths with it and sleeps with it".
She said her knees were injured so badly that she will now have to get by on crutches. "I already had a bad knee," she said, adding that her movement was already restricted after breaking her back and arm. "I'm just scrap metal," she said.
The farmer believes the attack on her was planned, and she thinks she knows who’s behind it. She also recently received threats from the person, who apparently told her that she was "looking to die".
She added that she suspects that the attacks as well as ongoing stock theft stem from years of conflict with neighbours because she refuses to allow them to use her farm as a shortcut to reach highways.
"They leave my gates open. I have already lost more than N$300 000 worth of game. I have lost cattle too. Do I now have to walk around on my crutches alone to catch the cattle?” she asked.
She said she closed the road through her farm because alternative roads are available. However, she often experiences that her farm is entered without her permission. She shared her suspicions with the police.
‘Kapana markets’
Wilhelm was also attacked on 21 August 2016 at Fokshof. She claims the same person is behind the recent attack.
"They thought I was dead; they were sure this time I was dead," she said.
During the previous farm attack, her grandson hit the attacker on the head with a cane. To date, nothing has come of that case, she said.
On Christmas Day, seven people were at her farm to kill her, she claimed, but added that she “did not fall into their trap”.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm said livestock is stolen and slaughtered on her farm every week for “kapana markets”.
"Every Tuesday it is the same story; if they do not slaughter a cow, it is my sheep or my goats. All my chickens have already been stolen. Of 50, I now have only 10 left.”
The 65-year-old Marieta Wilhelm from farm Fokshof in the Maroelaboom area said she lives in constant fear, adding that her farm has repeatedly been targeted by cattle thieves.
It is also the second time since 2016 that Wilhelm, who farms on her own, has been attacked.
From her hospital bed where she is under police guard, Wilhelm narrated that the incident took place at 05:00 on Tuesday morning. She said the attacker was waiting for her next to the house.
She went out to feed her dogs and when she tried to enter the house again, the suspect attacked her from behind with a log.
She recognised him as a neighbour's farm worker. He first hit her over the head, then her neck, arms, back and legs, she said. "The blood flowed and I fell. I then fired shot after shot to warn him. Then he grabbed a hammer and came at me. I yanked the hammer back to defend myself, and hit him on the head."
Living in fear
Wilhelm said she lives in fear and "goes to the bathroom with her gun, takes baths with it and sleeps with it".
She said her knees were injured so badly that she will now have to get by on crutches. "I already had a bad knee," she said, adding that her movement was already restricted after breaking her back and arm. "I'm just scrap metal," she said.
The farmer believes the attack on her was planned, and she thinks she knows who’s behind it. She also recently received threats from the person, who apparently told her that she was "looking to die".
She added that she suspects that the attacks as well as ongoing stock theft stem from years of conflict with neighbours because she refuses to allow them to use her farm as a shortcut to reach highways.
"They leave my gates open. I have already lost more than N$300 000 worth of game. I have lost cattle too. Do I now have to walk around on my crutches alone to catch the cattle?” she asked.
She said she closed the road through her farm because alternative roads are available. However, she often experiences that her farm is entered without her permission. She shared her suspicions with the police.
‘Kapana markets’
Wilhelm was also attacked on 21 August 2016 at Fokshof. She claims the same person is behind the recent attack.
"They thought I was dead; they were sure this time I was dead," she said.
During the previous farm attack, her grandson hit the attacker on the head with a cane. To date, nothing has come of that case, she said.
On Christmas Day, seven people were at her farm to kill her, she claimed, but added that she “did not fall into their trap”.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm said livestock is stolen and slaughtered on her farm every week for “kapana markets”.
"Every Tuesday it is the same story; if they do not slaughter a cow, it is my sheep or my goats. All my chickens have already been stolen. Of 50, I now have only 10 left.”
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