Machiel de Lange

Machiel de Lange (1937 – 2007)

Brief overview:

Machiel (70), was attacked by six perpetrators on 6th November 2007. They set fire to his house with Machiel inside it. Part of the roof collapsed and landed on him.

According to Fourie, there were clear signs of a violent break-in at the front door. "There was also a struggle in the living room and sofas were overturned." They found De Lange's charred body in his bedroom. His body was lying on the ground under a pile of cover grass. His room had a thatched roof and some of that grass fell on him.

Lourens said that De Lange farmed here alone for several years with, among other things, cattle and sheep. Louis Nel, who knew De Lange for many years, said he was a very quiet and peaceful person who did not get angry easily. De Lange grew up in the Vaalwater district.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
  • De Lange's wife died years ago. He has a daughter, Stefanie Pretorius and a son, Ben de Lange, who lived in Witbank
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • The farm attack was the first in two years in the Waterberg area.

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:

• http://web.archive.org/web/20071201181912/http://www.news24.com/Bee...
• http://web.archive.org/web/20071107113730/http://www.news24.com/Bee...
• https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000194750878845