Former Springbok player Lukas van Biljon, 47, was stabbed during a robbery at his family farm in the Free State, while his 70-year-old father was shot and wounded.
PHOTO: Ross Setford/Getty Images
- Former Springbok Lukas van Biljon was stabbed during a robbery at his family’s Free State farm.
- His 70-year-old father was shot and wounded.
- The robbers also tied up his children with cables.
Former Springbok hooker Lukas van Biljon, 47, has been stabbed during a robbery at his family farm in the Free State, while his 70-year-old father was shot and wounded.
Two of the six alleged perpetrators have since been arrested.
Free State police spokesperson Captain Loraine Earle said of the six attackers, two were arrested, aged 32 and 42, at a roadblock in Viljoensdrift shortly after the attack on Friday night.
“At about 00:30 [on Saturday], the police were called to a smallholding at Oranjeville, where the Van Biljon family is staying. It is alleged that six armed men entered the house,” he said.
The rugby player’s father, André van Biljon, tried to call for backup from other farmers on the radio, but the robbers fired several shots and he was wounded in the chest and hand, Earle added.
The former Springbok hooker was stabbed several times with a knife during the attack.
“[The robbers] also tied the children with cable ties,” said Earle.
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The men fled the farm in a Range Rover, which was later recovered on Strydom Street in Oranjeville.
According to Earle, an “activation plan” involving police and local farmers resulted in all roads in the area being blocked off.
The two suspected robbers were then stopped at a roadblock at Viljoensdrift while in a Toyota Camry.
They were arrested, and the vehicle confiscated.
The remaining robbers were still at large, Earle said.
The two men are expected appear in the Heilbron Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of house robbery and attempted murder.
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