Former Rugby star Luka van Biljon ‘devastated’ after his dad dies from gunshot wounds following horror farm robbery
FORMER rugby star Lukas van Biljon has been left “broken and devastated” after his father died from gunshot wounds following a horror robbery.
The ex-Springbok hooker was stabbed repeatedly by a gang of armed men before they blasted his dad Andre van Biljon, 70, three times in the chest on Saturday.
Six thugs stormed the family’s farm in Oranjeville, South Africa, just after midnight and tied Lukas’ children up with cable ties.
They then crept up to the rugby ace’s bedroom and woke him with a 9mm pistol pointed at his head, before a brief struggle ensued.
The 6ft 2in sports star, 47, sustained a number of stab wounds before the gang warned him they would kill his three sons if he continued to resist.
His heroic dad Andre heard the commotion and attempted to raise the alarm by alerting his fellow farmers.
But as he made a desperate run to reach a radio, he was spotted by the merciless gunmen who shot him three times.
The bullets horrifically struck him in the chest and he was rushed to the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein in critical condition.
But Andre sadly succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday and passed away at 1.30pm, leaving his loved ones heartbroken.
A close friend of the family and fellow farmer said the brood have been rocked by the loss.
They said: “Lukas is broken and devastated and along with the van Biljon family had been with Andre at his bedside since he was operated on.
“But they were serious injuries and his body family gave out on him.
“They shot him from close range in cold blood. He was an old man and could not fight back.
“Lukas said he has been greatly comforted by the world of rugby coming together to support him and his family along with the local farming community.”
Andre’s death on Tuesday coincided with the release of the latest concerning crime figures from Minister of Police Bheki Cele.
The stats revealed 6,000 people were murdered in the first three months of this year.
South African Police spokesman Captain Loraine Earle said two of the attackers were arrested after local farmers staged a sting.
The tight-knit locals had been alerted to the incident and set up roadblocks to snare the gun-wielding gang.
But four other suspects in the fatal farm robbery still remain at large.
Earle said: “Just after midnight on Saturday the police were called to a farm at Oranjeville belonging to the Van Biljon family where two men had suffered injuries.
“It is alleged that six armed men entered the house and tiedup the children with cable ties and a 47-year-old man was stabbed and his 70-year-old father was shot.
“Two men were arrested and charged with house robbery and attempted murder but that charge has now been upgraded to murder following the death of Mr van Biljon.
“We are still looking for the other four men involved in this attack.”
The two arrested men Khanye Muthi, 32, and Latin Mofokeng, 42, appeared before Heilbron Magistrate’s Court on Monday in handcuffs.
They applied for bail and were remanded in custody until June 5.
Retired ooker and former Sharks player Lukas played 13 times for his country between 2001 and 2003, with his first game in Italy and his last in New Zealand.
But he was dropped by the Boks after a string of high-profile nightclub brawls, including one outside a club in Durban.
Farmers in South Africa face a daily threat of brutality, with 333 attacks reported throughout the country last year.
Up to 55 men, women and children, were horrifically murdered during the incidents.
The attackers typically use depraved methods when staging an ambush, such as torturing people with hot irons, power tools and boiling water or raping them.
Most victims are then mercilessly shot dead, with stabbing and strangulation the second and third causes of death.
South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to live with around 80 murders and over 120 rapes taking place a day.