Screen new workers - police

MOST attacks, especially where the elderly are the victims, directly or indirectly involve current or former employees, police spokesperson Edwin Kanguatjivi says.

Four elderly people have been murdered in the recent past countrywide. In all the cases, a current or former worker was involved in some way. The latest incident involved the death of 69-year-old Shorty Barth at his farm near Rehoboth last week. The main suspect is a farm worker who is still on the run. Barth's body was found on the farm, his feet and hands bound. He had injuries all over his body. Preliminary evidence indicates that he was shot and hacked with a panga, or stabbed with a spear. About two weeks ago, 78-year-old Manfred Hartmann was found dead in his home at Swakopmund. He was found with his hands tied behind his back, while his neck was tied to the outlet pipe of a basin. He had also been hit on the head with bricks. The main suspect is a domestic worker, who had started working for Hartmann less than a month ago. Although the suspect ran away, the police tracked him to Outjo. He is currently in hospital nursing a gunshot wound sustained when he tried to escape from the police during his arrest. Another old couple – the Strzeleckis – was attacked in their home at Swakopmund just over a month ago. The suspects, former employees and one who did maintenance work at the house, choked Roswitha Strzelecki (79) to death, and assaulted Siegfried Strzelecki (82), who died of his injuries a week later. The suspects have already appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate's Court. Kanguatjivi said workers have the time and opportunity to evaluate the environment and valuables of their prospective targets. The problem, he added, is that employers do not have their workers screened by the police.