White business owner hijacked, left for dead

A 52-year-old Polokwane business owner was severely beaten and left for dead in a hijacking, his friends said on Wednesday.

Thys Diedericks, the owner of Limpopo Tractors, was accosted by four men, one armed with a pistol, the others with pangas, in the parking lot of the Savannah shopping mall around 7.15pm on Tuesday, his friend and colleague Stefan Myburgh said.

They threw him into the back of his Isuzu double-cab bakkie and drove in the direction of Mankweng, stopping along the way to drag him into the bush. They beat him until he was unconscious and fled with his vehicle, three cellphones, bank cards and some cash.

One of the suspects drew R3 000 from his bank account using an ATM in Mankweng on Wednesday morning, Myburgh said.

Early on Wednesday morning, Diedericks became conscious thanks to heavy rain. He crawled to the road where a passing minibus taxi stopped to pick him up. The driver took him to Mankweng Provincial Hospital, where he was found by his family, who had been searching for him. He was transferred to Limpopo Medi-Clinic. He has a cracked skull and multiple cuts and fractures. His eyes are swollen shut and half his ear has been torn off.

A Polokwane police spokesman, Inspector Lesiba Ramoshaba, said no criminal case had yet been reported to them.

Myburgh, however, said that Diedericks had been reported missing and that a case had been opened early on Wednesday. Subsequently, cases of hijacking, assault and robbery had been opened. He said no arrests had been made and Diedericks's vehicle, registration number BPY 056 L, was still missing. - Sapa