Janus Powell

Janus "Boeta" Powell (1982 – 2019)

Brief overview:

Janus (37) and his father, Antoon Powell, started a braai/barbeque when Janus' employer informed him that there were police officers at the farm gate, approximately 1 km away. Janus left to attend to this. Antoon then received a call requesting he and a friend go to the gate immediately. Janus' Cruiser was inside the gate. There was another vehicle on the tar road. They saw a man's body just outside the gate on the ground, and saw the vehicle driving away.

They found Janus lying unconscious close to the road, and initially believed he had been beaten up. When they saw blood, they realised he had been shot. Janus managed to speak, and said he couldn't breath. An ambulance and the police were summoned. Soon after the police and doctor arrived Janus passed at the scene. Janus shot and killed one of his attackers.

Update 23/04/2023: "This week it is exactly four years since the murder of Janus (Boeta) Powell. And his family still have as few answers as the day their son, husband and father was shot dead at a farm gate and their life collapsed. The investigation continues. "I immediately follow up on all the information I get, but every time I come to a dead end," says Sgt. Van Eeden, the investigating officer in the case. "We just want to see that the culprits are caught and pay for their actions," said Tharina, Janus’s mother. "We pray that justice will be done. The last four years have been difficult," she admits."

• https://archive.is/9wnSV

Brief Biography:

Manager of Rietvlei Farm, Bloemhof/Hoopstad, Free State

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

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack:
  • 18h30 21/04/2019
• Weapons:
  • Firearms
• Items Stolen:
  • Firearm and mobile phone
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
  • Thando Mbambo, Captain Stephen Thakeng, Sgt Lawrence Mojanaga,
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions:
  • 5 heavily armed posing as police officers. Vehicle, white Camry, fitted with blue light, one wearing reflective jacket, another a police uniform. They claimed they were looking for a suspect who absconded whilst on bail.
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.fo/zdJR9
• http://archive.fo/oG9HU
• http://archive.fo/qM6nf