Melinda Lee Bam

Melinda Lee Bam (1983 - 2013)

Brief overview:

Melinda (30), a mother of two, from Nelspruit, was shot dead in her bed at a game farm hunting lodge near Gravelotte, Limpopo. Her partner François Visagie (40), of Piet Retief, a farmer, was also injured when the couple were sprayed with bullets when they were in bed.

Mrs Bam’s ten-year-old daughter, Visagie’s three sons (10, 13 and 15) and a fifteen-year-old exchange student from Switzerland, remained unscathed: they shut themselves up in a bedroom of the cottage. Despite many other more valuable items lying around, these supposed ‘robbers’ ‘stole’ only a cheap cellphone, a bit of cash, a loaf of bread and a jar with peanut-butter.

Visagie’s brother "WP" was quoted as saying that the couple and their children arrived at the Bonlati lodge on Friday-afternoon .“Visagie heard someone enter their bedroom at around 02h00 and when he sat up in bed he realised those were not his own people. “They immediately fired shots at my brother and Melinda,’ he said.
“My brother tried to protect Melissa but both were struck. It is unknown how many bullets were fired into Mrs Bam but his brother got three bullets in one leg. “My (injured) brother jumped up and struggled with them but the attackers dragged him outside the room and tied him up with cable ties before escaping.

The boys who had been hiding in another room rushed out, cut lose their dad who then desperately tried to rescuscitate Mrs Bam. “Francois is very heartbroken. They were terribly in love. They were together scarcely four months and planned to marry at the end of the year,’ he said.There are all kinds of guesses as to why the gang arrived there at all: (they presumably climbed through a window, which raises questions about the security measures at the lodge).

It is ‘suspected’ that the gang was seeking the hunting rifles – but those had been locked up with the children in their bedroom. A spokesman of the Bonlati lodge said ‘it is shocking that a human life is worth so little’. The SAPS and a dog-tracking unit are following traces on the farm after the men fled on foot but nobody has yet been arrested. SAPS col Ronel Otto of Limpopo said ‘they suspect that the ‘robbers’ climbed through a window.’Visagie is expected to be discharged from Tzaneen Mediclinic on Tuesday. Mrs Bam’s other daughter did not go with her mom and sister to the hunting-weekend because she spent the weekend with her father. Beeld June 9, 2013

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://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Woman-killed-on-Limpopo-far...
• https://www.news24.com/southafrica/news/still-no-arrests-in-game-lo...
• https://lowvelder.co.za/40765/see-news-highlights-june-2013/
• http://archive.fo/KbJ1l
• http://archive.fo/rah8Q
• http://archive.fo/gGuDz
• http://archive.fo/nJz2p
• http://archive.is/jKBfq
• http://archive.is/76VUH