Durban - Police have arrested four people in connection with a robbery and the kidnapping and murder of three people on a farm in Magogong just outside Hartswater in the Northern Cape.
The family have been identified as husband and wife, Danie and Breggie Brand as well as their daughter, Elzabie, who had been visiting her parents.
National police spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, said the four are believed to have attacked the family at their home on Sunday.
"The 83-year-old father, the 79-year-old mother and their 50-year-old daughter were attacked. The incident was reported to police on Monday after the couple's son, living in Johannesburg, suspected that something was wrong after he was unable to get hold of them since Sunday. All three people in the home could not be found and two of the family's cars were missing," Naidoo said.
He said police launched a 72-year Activation Plan which included the deployment of Crime Intelligence, Forensic Experts, Detective Services and other supporting units.
Naidoo said a massive search was launched which resulted in one of the stolen cars, a Nissan Micra was found abandoned at Majaneng village, Taung in North West province on Monday night.
"With the search continuing in the Northern Cape, the second vehicle, a Grey Mazda CX5, was spotted in the area of Pudimoe being driven by a woman with two male passengers.
The vehicle was stopped and the three suspects were subsequently arrested," Naidoo said.
Police continued their search and the body of the 50-year-old woman was found in a field in the Takaneng Village in Taung.
Naidoo said she had been murdered but the cause of death is yet to be determined.
At this stage, police are searching for Danie and Breggie Brand.
He said the suspects, aged 42, 18, 19 and 20, will appear in court on various charges.
The DA's chairperson of Rural Safety, Dianne Kohler Barnard condemned the incident.
"The DA has launched its #StopFarmAttacks petitions. Farm attacks and murders must be taken as seriously as gender-based violence (GBV), and highly trained specialized units must patrol and prevent these attacks before they occur," she said.
Meanwhile, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, has welcomed the arrests of those implicated in the attack.
"We have repeatedly condemned attacks on farms and farmers as acts of gross criminality that is detrimental to the social cohesion that our young democracy needs. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the victims and we express our heartfelt condolences," Mandela said.
IOL