North West police spokesperson, Charlize van der Linden, says the suspects were arrested at their separate homes in the Amalia township between the hours of late Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday.

She says a firearm that went missing during the attack on Erasmus, was confiscated by police during the arrests. Erasmus went missing from her farm house on July 2. Her body was found the next day in the veld on her farm. Her missing bakkie was also recovered a few kilometres away.

Van der Linden says a police task team followed up information that led to the arrest. The suspects face charges of murder, rape, house robbery, robbery of a firearm, and robbery of a vehicle.

Erasmus was allegedly shot dead.

Her murder comes after another North West farmer, 68-year-old Patrick Itumeng, was shot dead in his house on his farm outside Vryburg on June 30. A 34-year-old suspect was arrested at Cassel last Friday in connection with robberies at schools in the area in 2016.

According to Van der Linden, the suspect's involvement with Itumeng's murder is currently being investigated by police from Ganyesa.

Itumeng, a farmer and a local shop owner, and his wife arrived on their farm on June 30. They were apparently returning from their shop. The couple was allegedly overpowered by four armed men with balaclavas.

She says Itumeng fought back. Shots were fired and Itumeng was shot dead. A bullet also hit his wife in the hand.

The suspects fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money in a safe.

The same suspect are also linked with five different charges of house robbery between 2012 and 2015 in Kuruman, Rivelot, Vryburg, and Tsineng.

OFM News