Isabella Elsie Smit

Isabella Elsie Smit (1941 - 2002)

Brief overview:

Isabella (60), and her husband Arthur Barend Smit (63), were severely beaten, stabbed and hacked, and their throats slit, on their smallholding in Sundra, on 1st January 2002. The Smit couple grew vegetables and bred dogs. Four suspects were arrested, two male, two female.

Police Inspector Welda Crause said all four worked for the Smit couple.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • "We left everything we had including our houses and 2 businesses and left SA with our 3 children. Since my parents were murdered and the time we left in 2008 my husband was shot at on the highway through his truck. 1 of our daughters was held at gunpoint in a restaurant and a friend of ours was threatened with a gun in his mouth at his business".
  • Segment of a discussion forum post by daughter, Loraine Marshall

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
  • The couple's bakkie, in which the suspected murderers fled, was found abandoned near Springs.
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
  • Police Inspector Welda Crause said the four, all younger than 21, were arrested in the Komatipoort area, near the border with Mozambique. One of the men was an illegal immigrant from Mozambique.
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • The suspects were to appear in court.

Additional Biographical Information:

• Identity Number : 4106290045088
• Cause of Death : Unnatural causes

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.is/3YyOj
• http://archive.is/iDwoL
• https://www.facebook.com/VFplus/posts/10152590096474453
• https://archive.is/KaTTx
• https://archive.is/UuJfd

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Mrs I Smith (1941 - 2001)

Brief overview:

The daughter of Mr and Mrs Smith (63 and 60 respectively) called the police and asked them to investigate suspicious circumstances at her parents’ home on their smallholding in Mpumalanga. When the police arrived, they forced open the gate. They found the house in disarray. Clothes and other items were strewn about. The bodies of Mr and Mrs Smith were found in the bedroom, both with injuries to the head. Several household items had been stolen.

Extract from The Final Report Committee of Inquiry Farm Attack July 2003.
CASES ON THE NOCOC DATABASE: DECEMBER 2001

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

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
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150423152228/https://africacheck.org/...
• https://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Final-Report-Com...