Theunis Gert Pelser

Theunis Pelser (1943 – 2010)

Brief overview:

Theunis (66), a truck driver for J&B Sugars in Kameeldrift was shot in the chest and killed on 5th May 2010. He was in the office of Mr. Johan Swiegers the owner of the company. A neatly dressed man showed up at the business around 07:15 and said he wanted to buy sugar. Swiegers told Pelser to write an invoice in the office for the man. This office is adjacent to Swiegers' house. When Pelser and the man went into the office, Swiegers noticed another man at his kitchen door who said he was looking for work. A third man, who said he was there with the man who wanted to buy sugar, as also hanging around. Swiegers went into his room to get eye drops when he heard bumping noises. Back in the living room, he saw three men pointing firearms at Pelser and another worker, known simply as Themba. The men told Swiegers to lie down on the ground and then demanded money. One of the men kicked Swiegers to the neck. Swiegers said he would fetch the money. Swiegers stood up while a firearm was constantly aimed at him. "I didn't know Theunis was behind me," Swiegers said. “I pressed the emergency button. With that, I hit at the guy's firearm. A shot went off and I moved away. I was hit on the finger. "That's when I saw Theunis fall. He was hit in the chest. "That shot was not for him. It was meant for me. I should have been dead." According Swiegers the three men fled in the white Mazda twin-cab vehicle with which they came. Nothing was robbed. Swiegers called police and ambulance services. Pelser died about half an hour later - with Swiegers and Theunis's wife Zelma beside him.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
  • Truck driver Theunis Pelser ‘s wife Zelma was still pleading with her husband to ‘please live’, when he died.
  • Theunis leaves behind three adult children besides his wife: Karen (45), Riaan (43) and Anita (39).
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • Hilda Fourie of Beeld newspaper reports that the gang crime-afflicted smallholdings of Leeuwfontein/Kameeldrift north-east of Pretoria have claimed its third gun crime-victim this month.
  • On the same day that Theunis was murdered, Jan du Toit (80) was shot and killed, and Robert Botha (57), was murdered two weeks later.

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 constable Portia Maleka said no-one has been arrested.
• 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/20100509011651/http://www.beeld.com/Suid...
• https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000194810271859