ABERDEEN NEWS — Aberdeen farmer Hannes Gouws (45) is extremely lucky to be alive after he was shot in the face at point-blank range last Friday morning during an attempted robbery at the farm Makateesplaas, on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
At about 6.20am, Gouws and his son Jan-Hendrik (14) went to the garage to get the bakkie out to go and fetch the farm workers. After Gouws had got into the bakkie, he asked his son to check the tyres.
While he was busy with this, three men suddenly appeared from a corner of the garage, possibly having been hiding behind fuel drums. Two went for the youngster, and a fight ensued, leave the boy battered but otherwise unharmed.
The third man went to Gouws, put the gun against his head and fired. The bullet entered at the top of his jawbone on the right and exited slightly lower through his left cheek. Gouws fought back after being shot, but the three men escaped - the injured pair chased them as far as the wall surrounding the yard, then the three suspects ran off through the veld in the direction of the river and the town.
Gouws’s wife Aletta took her husband and son to Aberdeen Hospital, where both were examined and the elder man was stabilised. The attending doctor, Dr Olive Muller, realised immediately that Gouws needed to be transferred to George Mediclinic, and decided that it would be quicker to drive him to George rather than wait for a helicopter to arrive from George. An ambulance was dispatched from George and met the doctor and patient just outside Uniondale. Gouws was then transferred to the ambulance and admitted to ICU on his arrival at the hospital.
In the meantime, all available members of SAPS from Aberdeen, both uniform and detective branches, together with police from Graaff-Reinet and members of the K9 unit, scoured the area.
A police helicopter was also called and assisted in the search. A description of the attackers had been given to the police and following on from information from the community and persistence by the various police units and local farmers who helped in the search, three men were arrested at a house in Lotusville the same morning. The suspect who lived at the house, a 21-year-old man, was busy washing his clothing when the police swooped on the house.
One suspect was identified by farm workers, and later by the younger Gouws. He appeared in court on Monday, charged with attempted murder, and was remanded in custody in Graaff-Reinet until his next appearance on Thursday, April 6. The other two men were released on Sunday afternoon as they could not be positively linked to the scene of the attack.
Hannes Gouws has meanwhile made steady progress, and he was moved from ICU to a normal ward on Sunday. Due to the swelling on his face, he was only assessed by a maxillofacial surgeon on Monday, and an operation to repair his shattered jaw has been scheduled for Friday. He was released from the hospital on Monday and is staying in George recuperating in preparation for the surgery.
Miraculously, the bullet did not pass through any arteries or veins.
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