Nothing could prepare Mr John Greaves of Buzzard Mountain Retreat for the scene of chaos and destruction that greeted him early on Friday morning, 22 February.

Situated on the farm Sarum along the Vivo Road, Buzzard Mountain Retreat is a popular weekend break-away destination offering accommodation in the form of a guest cottage and two cabins.

“I tell you, when I walked into the cottage and saw the utter destruction, I almost cried,” said Greaves.

Greaves realised something was wrong early that morning when he walked into his workshop next to his farm house.

“I saw someone had broken in and stolen, among others, tools and tractor parts. We followed the spoor and it was clear that it was one person,” Greaves said. While they were following the spoor along the farm road leading to the Vivo Road, another farm worker informed Greaves that there was also a spoor leading up to the guest cottage about a kilometre from the farm house.

“I had a gut feeling that they had broken into the cottage,” Greaves said. Sadly, his gut feeling proved correct, but he was not prepared for the scene that met him.

“This was not just a normal break-in. It was personal,” Greaves said.

The cottage's wooden door had been smashed open with a fence pole. Both inside and outside the cottage, all copper wiring and pipes had been stripped off. Two fires were made inside the cottage, one in a bedroom and the other in the kitchen, and used to burn the copper wires clean. A fire was also made in the outside braai area, where more copper wiring was cleaned. All the taps in the cottage had been ripped from their sockets and the wash basin smashed. The gas fridge and stove were overturned, smashed and also stripped of all fittings and wiring. As if this was not enough, even the glass light covers were smashed, while the rest of the cottages were ransacked.

“I’ve been here all of my life. In all my bloody years I’ve never seen anything like this. Although we have had the odd break-in, we have never had something to this extent happen on the farm,” Greaves said. He is adamant that the damage and theft was a revenge attack.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time these are people who worked for you, and we have a suspect in mind,” Greaves said. He was referring to a farm worker they employed last year. Unbeknown to them, the worker was being sought by the police on a string of criminal charges at that stage. One day, they police pitched up at his farm. The moment the suspect saw the police, he fled into the bushes and was never seen again. Greaves is of the opinion that the man thinks it was he who had phoned the police and is now out for revenge.

“The security door was completely smashed. It just shows you that security doors and bars mean nothing. If they want to break in, they will break in,” Greaves said. He estimates the damage at around R50 000. This is apart from his loss of income. The cottage was already booked for the weekend, but he had to cancel as a result of the break-in.

“I can start repairing the damage, but I have no guarantee that something like this will not happen again. I still have to decide what to do ... even the cops could not believe the amount of damage caused,” Greaves said. He said that the break-in should serve as a warning to all lodge owners and guest house operators in the area that they are at risk too. Meanwhile, he has expressed great admiration for the Makhado SAPS for all the help and support given to him.

As for the two other cabins on the farm, it was later found that at both windows had been smashed. Fortunately, the burglar(s) did not gain access to them. On Saturday evening, a neighbour's fence was cut, after which thieves stole a large number of brass ball valves and fittings, as well as piping.