Alan Graham Rowe

Alan Rowe (1951 – 2009)

Brief overview:

Alan (57), a well known as a progressive and successful commercial farmer, who was highly respected in the community was ambushed as he drove into his farm Bloemendal on the night of 13th May 2009. He was shot in his vehicle, managed to jump out and run but the gang pursued him and gunned him down using a 9mm handgun and .22 rifle.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • 20/06/2011: "The local farming community has nothing but high praise for the sterling work being done by a group of dedicated policemen attached to Pietermaritzburg’s Organised Crime Unit under the command of Colonel Piet Scott, who lay claim to a near 100 percent success rate in solving farm murders in the KZN Midlands since 2003.
  • Of the nineteen Midlands farm murder cases handled by the team dating back to the murder of Shaun Clark in Camperdown (2003), only one, arising from the murder of Philip Rudolph Buys in Weenen in September 2003, is classed as “unsolved”. The unit arrested a total of 50 culprits in connection with the eighteen “solved” cases with 24 of the killers sentenced to life imprisonment and others receiving sentences ranging from an effective 30 years imprisonment to 18 years imprisonment.
  • The midlands farm murder cases that have been solved by the team include the murders of: Shaun Clark of Camperdown (2003); Johannes Willem Bruwer (Camperdown, 2003); Parvathie Surapen (Thornville, 2003); Charles Hyett Shepherd (Bergville, 2003); Nora Joyce Gevers (Wartburg, 2004); David Boyd Varty (Rietvlei, 2005); Trevor Anthony Weightman Trevor Weightman (Winterton, 2005); Jacqueline Ivy Chatterton (Boston, 2005); Ezra Arieh Podolski (Eric) (Cramond, 2006); Andrew Roy Main (Cramond, 2007); David Merwyn Green (Estcourt, 2007); Alan Graham Rowe (Rietvlei, 2009); Erasmus Mncube Erasmus Mncube (and attack on his employers, Collin and Nola Barrett at Nottingham Road in 2009); Dr. Warwick Anthony Dorning (Mpophomeni, 2009); Lynette Ralfe (Colenso, 2010); Lorraine Karg , Hilda Linyane, Zakeue Shayi Mhlongo (Mooi River, 2010) and Radash Anandlal (Cramond, 2010)
  • Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joey Jeevan, said the management of the SAPF commends Colonel Scott and the unit for their “sterling investigation and their dedication to duty”."
    • http://archive.fo/oos7b
  • 71 farm murders in Colenso, Winterton rural areas between 2001 and 2011, Since 2001 there have been 17 Farmers and around 54 staff / community members murdered on 83 farms in Winterton, Colenso and surrounding areas.

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
  • Rietvlei, Greytown Police and a specialised unit from Durban investigated and arrested five of the gang by July 2009
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • Four years after the brutal murder of Rietvlei farmer, Alan Rowe, four men were each sentenced in the Mtubatuba High Court last week each to 20 years for murder and 10 for attempted armed robbery, whilst a fifth received life sentence for murder and 20 years for attempted armed robbery. These sentences are in addition to a life sentence handed down in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in July 2009 on Sibenelo Duma who had pleaded guilty to the murder and attempted robbery with aggravating circumstance. Duma had been employed on the farm Bloemendal the previous year.
  • In handing down sentence, Judge Ron McLaren condemned the murder in the strongest possible terms stating that Duma had been pivotal in hatching the plan to rob his former employer. Still in prison, Duma turned State witness to give evidence on the other members of the gang sentenced last week. Apparently the considerable delay in the follow up sentencing was due to delaying tactics implemented by the 5 accused, Muso Mabaso, Zaks Ndela, Goodenough Ngiba and Msobho Khumalo. Lucky Mhlong who was given a life sentence was out on parole at the time of the murder and had previous convictions.

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.fo/VMBoX
• http://archive.fo/xbV0i
• http://archive.fo/M8Ae3
• http://archive.fo/Bmz24
• http://archive.fo/cABjn
• https://archive.ph/rKmKi
• https://archive.ph/wA4fm
• https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000097045735003
• https://www.yumpu.com/nl/document/read/4451339/laai-af-die-lys-van-...
• https://www.greytown.co.za/gazettefolder/feb-13.html
• https://www.greengazette.co.za/documents/legal-notice-32300-of-12-j...