"Joseph Bernard Kulelaphi, 50, was remanded in custody when he appeared before the Wolmaransstad Magistrate’s Court on Friday 19 June 2020 for house robbery, attempted murder, and theft of [a] motor vehicle. He will reappear on Tuesday, 23 June 2020," SAPS North West spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said in a statement.

The accused appeared in court in connection with a house robbery committed at about 7.30pm on Friday, June 12 on a farm at Leeudoringstad, she said.

A 77-year-old farmer was allegedly overpowered by two suspects in his house on the farm after the assailants forced entry through a locked door. During the ordeal, the victim was hit on his head with a panga and tied up. 

The suspects then took six firearms from a safe, as well as a cell phone, and fled the scene in the farmer’s Mercedes Benz. The victim managed to free himself and raise the alarm, which alerted the police and emergency services to rush to the scene.

The farmer was admitted to hospital with serious head injuries, and the stolen vehicle was found a few hours later abandoned on the Leeudoringstad-Orkney road. 

"Following an intensive investigation, a suspect was identified shortly after the attack and subsequently traced and apprehended on Wednesday, 17 June 2020 at his house on a farm in the Leeudoringstad area. All six stolen firearms were recovered. The police also found a .38 special revolver with a filed off serial number," Myburgh said.

North West police commissioner, Lt-Gen. Sello Kwena, congratulated the police officers involved for a job well done and recovering the stolen firearms, which he said, would have been likely to be used to commit further serious and violent crimes.   

African News Agency (ANA)