The KwaZulu-Natal Midlands community is on edge after the brutalised body of a local woman‚ Christine Solik‚ was found on Friday and a second body was discovered in the Nzinga River in lower Loteni near the Drakensberg on Monday.

A massive search involving police‚ private investigators‚ private security companies and different sections of the community was under way from Friday for her husband‚ Roger Solik‚ 66‚ who suffered with Parkinson disease.

Police rescue divers made the second discovery a few kilometres away on Monday afternoon.

Last week 79-year-old Trevor Rees died after he was attacked on his farm Pudsey on the outskirts of the southern Drakensburg village. A week earlier‚ another farmer‚ Gavin Carter‚ was gunned down in his home by three men in an apparent robbery on his farm West.

Clive Foss‚ chairman of the Nottingham Road Landowners Association said the couple were known in the village and locals were concerned about their safety.

“A lot of locals have phoned‚ who knew them personally. What is the mentality of people who can be so violent? What are the reasons for these crimes to be escalating in South Africa and are so violent. Everybody seems to think it’s targeted at white commercial farmers‚ I don’t believe that. I believe we are all victims‚” said Foss.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane confirmed that the body of a man was found further down the same river in which the woman was found.

“His hands were tied behind his back‚” said Zwane.

Christine was found murdered in the river‚ 70km from the family home at the Bend Country Estate in Nottingham Road. The couple’s home was trashed and had blood stains.

At the time of the two farmers’ deaths KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture Union Security spokesperson Koos Marais said the twin attacks were “most concerning”.

 “These are occurrences that the country just cannot afford. We call on the state to take drastic action to curb and prevent and farm attacks‚” he said.

 TMG Digital