FF Plus member of parliament and spouse robbed at their home

19 July 2018

An FF Plus Member of Parliament, Mr Wouter Wessels, and his spouse, Ms Tammy Wessels, a member of the Free State Legislature, were robbed on Wednesday evening at their home in Bloemfontein. The suspicion is that the purpose of the robbery was to get hold of data that may be used to incriminate certain people.

An unknown number of robbers gained access to the house by presumably using some sort of substance that caused the Wessels couple to lose consciousness.

The couple’s cell phones, laptops and hard drives were taken. Some of these items were later found in an open field in the city.

The FF Plus is not excluding the possibility that the robbery may be politically motivated as it seems that the only items that were taken are devices on which important documents and data are stored.

This suspicion is supported by the fact that the incident occurred merely a week after Ms Wessels lodged a complaint about possible tender fraud in the Free State with the Public Protector (PP).

In another incident that took place in February this year, documents were stolen from the home of the Free State MEC for Finance, Ms Elsabé Rockman.

When politicians are robbed of devices holding information that is in the public’s interest, the oversight role of public officials is adversely affected.

Robberies at residential premises is one of the so-called trio crimes that are prevalent throughout South Africa and that are feared by most ordinary citizens. These crimes affect everyone in the country and the government is not offering a feasible solution to combat the crimes effectively. 

The FF Plus would like to thank the police for their quick response to the robbery at the home of the Wessels couple. The FF Plus would also like to call on the public to take all possible precautions so as to ensure that they do not fall victim to the growing incidence of crime in South Africa.

Issued by Armand Cloete, FF Plus spokesperson: Free State, 19 July 2018