LOW’S CREEK - A 41-year-old man from Tonetti farm allegedly shot his mother to death this afternoon, after which he turned the gun on himself.

According to information at police disposal, both the deceased lived on the same premises, but in different houses. 

It is suspected that the suspect accosted his mother in her house after a heated argument. Both were certified dead on the scene by emergency personnel. 

One of the family’s employees narrowly escaped death by hiding in one of the rooms of the house. 

The man was due to appear in front of a sitting of the Pretoria High Court in Barberton on November 5. He had been charged with the double murder of a 72-year-old farmer and his 66-year-old employee in 2017. 

A preliminary investigation indicated that the weapon used in the incident belongs to the deceased's wife, as his licensed firearm is still in police possession pending the outcome of the trial. 

A case of murder and the unlawful possession of the firearm has been opened.
 

Editor: Anchen Coetzee
Subeditor: Lynette Brink