Update since this article was first posted. Reports are in that the French survivalists on the run near the Karoo town of Sutherland have been apprehended by police after a shootout. Not yet clear whether they are alive or not.
It’s one of the most gripping stories to hit South Africa in years – the fugitive French couple wanted for the killing of a police officer and on the run in the remote Karoo, near Sutherland.
The farmer on whose land they were living when the shooting occurred believes the heavily armed couple will fight back if cornered. “They walked a lot, they know the farm. They know where to hide. I don’t think they will give up without a fight,” Gerhardus du Plessis, owner of the farm Hardie, 24km outside Sutherland, told Die Burger’s Tisha Steyn. “They will fight back if they are found. Especially Philippe will fight to the death.”
French fugitives will fight back
Philippe Menieré, 60, and Agnes Jardel, 55 lived on Du Plessis’s farm for years before Du Plessis – suspicious about their behaviour, and wanting to do repairs to the house – decided to evict them.
Increasingly concerned about their erratic behaviour and their stockpile of weapons, Du Plessis called in the police for help. This is when things went pair shaped. Student Constable Jacob Boleme, 27 was shot dead, while Warrant Officer Glenwall du Toit, was seriously injured.
The bizarre events outside the small town of Sutherland (better known for stargazing than Wild West shootouts), bring back memories of South Africa’s notorious Bonny and Clyde, Charmaine Phillips and her lover Pieter Grundlingh, who left a trail of death and destruction across the South African landscape before being brought to justice.
As the police search continues (they’ve even called in helicopters, the dog unit and trackers), the chances of avoiding another shootout seem slimmer and slimmer.