‘Murder by appointment’: Pretoria Rugby Club’s former chairperson Jaco Basson shot and killed

Pretoria Rugby Club former chairman and manager Jaco Basson was shot and killed over the weekend.

• Former Pretoria Rugby Club chairperson Jaco Basson was shot and killed in Modise Stand on Sunday.
• Close associates told News24 he had an appointment to view a bakkie.
• Pretoria Rugby Club president Neels van Heerden said the assailants instructed the club’s coach to rush him to hospital because he was dying.

Pretoria Rugby club’s former chairperson, Jaco Basson, was shot and killed at Modise Stand in Winterveld on Sunday.

The club’s president, Neels van Heerden, told News24 that Basson had gone to Soshanguve to view a bakkie that was “for sale”. 

Some alleged the vehicle was advertised on Facebook Marketplace. However, Van Heerden said the club had not established this. 

Basson drove to view the bakkie with one of the club’s coaches, who was traumatised after the incident, as well as nursing severe injuries sustained during the attack by unknown assailants. 

Van Heerden said the attackers had searched the bakkie, in which Basson and the coach had travelled in. They were looking for money, but found none.

He said the attackers took their cellphones and other belongings, after which they moved Basson to the passenger seat of the bakkie and instructed his colleague to rush him to hospital. They told the coach, “your friend is dying”. 

Van Heerden said he suspected the killers had orchestrated the robbery and that they were the same individuals who advertised the vehicle online. 

“This was murder by appointment. It seems the intention was to rob. But why shoot Jaco? There is no way he could have resisted or tried to reverse and drive off. He was not mobile. He suffered a severe injury in his left arm during Covid-19,” said Van Heerden. 

He said the coach, who travelled with Jaco, suffered more than physical harm during the attack.

“He worked with Jaco when he was just out of school. He was still [an under 20] player. To see your coach getting shot, you getting assaulted and being instructed to drive him to the hospital because he is dying. I don’t think this coach will ever, in his life, recover, and that is also sad,” he said. 

The president of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, Willem Strauss, told News24 the club understood that Basson was “ambushed”.

He said his death was a loss to the rugby fraternity.

“We convey our condolences to his friends and family. He gave a lot to the rugby game,” he said.

The club’s CEO, Eugene Hare, and deputy president, Ben Eybers, described Basson as a selfless person whose generosity impacted many in the fraternity.

“What always struck me about him was how unselfishly he operated – always willing to share his time, energy and wealth of expertise as his contribution to the betterment of the game. Jaco never said, ‘I did it’, but always, ‘we did it’,” said Hare.

Eybers said Basson was a rare breed in the sport.

“Jaco belonged to a rare breed of individuals who always put rugby first. He was a true legend and leaves a rich legacy.”

Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said police in Loate were investigating a murder case and the circumstances of his death.

She said Basson died at a local clinic.