Lodewikus Jacobus Stoffberg

Lodewikus Jacobus Stoffberg "Wikus" (1955 - 2005)

Brief overview:

Wikus (50), a farmer from Osplaat in Bethlehem was shot dead on 27th December 2005. Police said Wikus Stoffberg and his 44-year-old wife Maria (Ria) were attacked by former employees while travelling in their bakkie on Tuesday.

It was believed the men grabbed Stoffberg, pointed a gun at him and dragged him out of his blue Toyota bakkie. One of the men shot him and dragged him into a donga next to the farm. Constable Christopher Mophiring said the men took his wife to the farmhouse which they searched, stealing two firearms. They tied her hands with rope, forced her inside the bakkie and left. "On their way toward the tarred road of the farm the woman managed to push one of the suspects on the passenger seat and fell out of the moving bakkie," Mophiring said.

She was treated for minor injuries. The men drove off towards Bethlehem and the bakkie was later found hidden at the side of the road about nine kilometres from the farm.

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
  • Police arrested two men for the murder of Bethlehem farmer Wikus Stoffberg, earlier this week. Constable Christopher Mophiring said the two were in possession of a cellphone stolen from Stoffberg's wife. They would appear in the Lindley Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

• ID Number : 5501025051089
• Official cause of death : UNNATURAL BDR857/2005
• Lodewikus married Maria Magdalena (born du Preez) on 10/12/1977

Links to Media articles:

• https://archive.is/4qHFK
• https://archive.is/5wx4M