‘They said I had to die’: Anti-poaching ranger recounts horrific farm attack

Three armed men tortured a couple, poured boiling water on them and demanded money they did not have. Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and images which may upset sensitive viewers An anti-poaching ranger from Limpopo says he should have died in a farm attack at his cottage on a game farm in the Broederstroom district this month. Les Brett, owner and founder of the Dung Beetle Bush School in the province, said his assailants put his own firearm in his mouth. “That AK-47 has been faulty for the last two years. It never fires the last round. It didn’t go off, otherwise I would have been dead now,” he said. Attackers tortured couple for money Brett said it was by the grace of God he and his wife, Natasha, survived the attack, in which they were tortured, on 1 November. “On that Sunday night, at 7.30m, three men burst into our home through a sliding door and attacked us with almost military precision. Within two seconds, I had a gun to my head and a gun to my stomach. “They then tied us up, tied our hands behind our backs and our feet together and blindfolded us and stuffed rags into our mouths. Then they started to beat us. This went on for a while, with them demanding the keys to the safe and money. “After about half an hour one took the blindfold off my eyes, so I could see my wife lying next to me,” he recalled. Brett said by this stage, their clothes had been cut off. “They wanted me to see what they were doing to my wife. They were cutting around her nipples with a knife and tin snips. They also had a bolt cutter and put my testicles in it. “All this to intimidate and scare us. Eventually I told them where the key to the safe was. They ransacked the house totally,” he added. Faulty AK-47 misfires as attackers threaten to kill ranger Les Brett sustained severe injuries. Picture: Supplied Brett said once the robbers got the firearms, they turned their attention to money. “They kept asking where the million was. We don’t have millions. They continued to torture us and threw us into the safe before pouring boiling water on us while continuing to ask for the millions. “I offered them my cars, but they didn’t want the cars. They said they already had a car. I offered to go withdraw money at the ATM, but they didn’t want that. They wanted the millions in the house that we didn’t have. “They then said I had to die, and pulled the trigger on the AK-47, but it misfired.” The assailants were disturbed when a guard on patrol came to check on the water pump. “They just closed the safe door and disappeared.” ‘We are okay’ Brett’s wife managed to free herself and him before he went to the main house on the property to call for help. “We are okay. Natasha is a strong woman. I am still in pain. They smashed my head and knee with the bolt cutters. My hip is fractured,” said Brett. “They stole seven firearms, two cellphones and a laptop, but left cameras worth over R200 000, jewellery, wallets, cars. “This is a targeted farm attack. Nobody gets tortured for three hours, scalded with boiling water, in a house robbery.”