CRIME SCENE:  Syferfontein Farm, North West Province: The police have arrested two suspects for the brutal attack on farmer Donovan Marx.

The Provincial Police Commissioner of the North West Province, Lieutenant General Arthur Peter Adams, has made the announcement in Potchefstroom and said police would not rest until all the suspects were behind bars.. 

Marx (50) was attacked on Wednesday morning, 28 October 2026, between 08:00 and 09:00 on Syferfontein, a cattle farm located between Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp.

Three balaclava-clad suspects first attacked a farmworker, who they threatened with weapons and tied up. When Marx arrived at the property in his bakkie, he was shot in the back.

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) the attackers dragged Marx into the house where they subjected him to horrific torture. He was stabbed in the leg, threatened with castration, and according to General Adams both of his earlobes were cut off. 

The attackers stole three firearms from Marx’s gun safe and fled the scene in his red Isuzu single-cab bakkie.

The farmworker eventually managed to free himself and raised the alarm. He was not injured in the attack.

Marx’s abandoned Isuzu bakkie has been found abandoned in the Ikageng area and processed for DNA evidence.

Marx is still recovering in hospital.