Pieter Hills

Pieter Hills (1964 - 2020)

Brief overview:

Pieter (56), and his son Eddie (26), of Zwartpan Farm, were attacked in the early hours of the morning on 6th November 2020. Pieter was executed, sustaining two fatal gunshot wounds to the head. When Eddie arrived, he was overpowered by the perpetrators. It was initially reported that he was stabbed in the back and lungs, but latest reports state that he was shot in the neck. He was transferred to the ICU at a Welkom hospital in critical condition, and later taken by air ambulance to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.

Eddie suffered a set back on Sunday 8th November. Eddie suffered a set back on Sunday 8th November. He was taken off life support, but declared brain dead, and passed away on 11th November.

Pieter's wife, Antoinette, and daughter, Carmen, were not at the farm at the time of the attack. Antoinette became concerned when she couldn't reach her husband or son, and called farm worker, Anna Bochedi, to go and check on them. She went to get another farm worker, Anna Khumalo, and they went to investigate. At 05h00 they made the gruesome discovery, and alerted relatives.

"Brig. Police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele says a worker of the family came across the father and son in the farmhouse around 05:00 on Friday morning after the farmer's wife called her and asked her to investigate."

It is unclear at this stage how many perpetrators were involved. Police spokesman Stephen Thakeng said that the attackers stole two or three firearms from the safe.

Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor in Hennenman, Maxie Badenhorst said, “It looks like they knew their movements. They knew that Pieter was alone.” She added that a friend of Eddie’s told her that “there were just too many [attackers] for him to win the fight”. She said it would be difficult to find the attackers, since they had an estimated 12-hour window to escape.

Police have asked the community to be on the look out for a yellow Isuzu LDV, registration number CBV 873 FS.

Update: One of four suspects arrested on Friday in connection with the farm murder of Pieter Hills (56) and the attack on his son, appeared briefly in the town's magistrate's court on Monday 9th November. He remains in custody until he appears in court again Monday 16th for his bail application.

Brief Biography:

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

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
  • early hours 06/11/2020
• Weapons
  • firearms
• Items Stolen
  • firearms
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
  • 4
• Arrests
• Four suspects have been arrested - one of whom has since himself died
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
  • Tshidiso Patrick Bochedi (36)
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • "One of the suspects, aged 47, was founded hanged in his cell in the early hours of the morning today [Saturday]. The other three suspects, who are in their 30s, will appear in the Hennenman Magistrates' Court soon on charges of murder and house robbery," Makhele said.
  • 09/11/2020, postponed until 16/11/2020 for bail application.
  • 16/02/2023: Tshidiso Patrick Bochedi and Mojalefa Modise were found guilty on two charges of murder, robbery and housebreaking with the intent to rob Pieter and Eddie Hills. "The accused admitted their involvement in the murders, after which the guilty verdict followed," says Shuping. Three people were initially arrested after the murder, but the third suspect, David Papi Mabai, took his own life in the holding cells a day after the murder.

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://archive.is/RjMeQ
• https://www.facebook.com/desirie.klopper/posts/3496746193728094
• https://archive.is/TJrFN
• https://archive.is/HWK35
• https://archive.is/AJoEH
• https://archive.is/tkQUs
• https://archive.is/9QMeJ
• https://archive.is/kfCSz
• https://archive.is/gRlA7
• https://archive.is/AozVm
• https://archive.is/o39S2
• https://archive.is/0b9Br
• https://archive.ph/j1c0M