According to Free State Agriculture, Pieter Hills was allegedly overpowered by a group of attackers in his house at 18:30 on 5 November 2020. His son Eddie entered the house after coming home from gym and was stabbed in the chest with a knife by the assailants.

Free State police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, says the suspects were arrested in nearby Phomolong township less than 24 hours after the deceased and his 26-year-old injured son were found unresponsive by their domestic worker.

It has been reported the farm employee went in search of the victims after the deceased’s wife raised her concerns regarding her inability to get a hold of her family telephonically.

Makhele made a shocking revelation regarding the accused. “One of the suspects aged 47 was found hanging in the police cell in the early hours of this morning. The other three, in their thirties, will appear in the Hennenman Magistrate's Court soon on charges of murder and house robbery”.

Meanwhile, in a different case, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, has lamented the death of a 37-year-old Free State farmer who died this week - over two months after he was also shot in the head by his attackers. 

The deceased, Teboho Machakela, was accosted and attacked on his farm outside Odendaalsrus on 19 August, by an unknown group of assailants. He was hospitalised for over a month and died from his injuries earlier this week. Machakela’s attackers, on the other hand, have not been found. Didiza expressed her condolences to the family of Machakela, expressing concern over the spate of farm attacks.

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