British man who had come to South Africa to open reserve killed in South Africa farm attack

JOHANNESBURG – Police in South Africa say a British man who ran a nature reserve on a rural farm was killed in a robbery.

Capt. Phumelelo Dhlamini of the South African Police Service said Monday that 54-year-old Christopher Preece was killed in the attack at his farm near Ficksburg, a town near the border with Lesotho. Dhlamini said Preece had gone outside Saturday night to check to see why the power had been cut at his farm called Fleur des Lis when three men attacked him with machetes.

Preece bled to death. Dhlamini said Preece's 56-year-old wife was seriously wounded in the attack and is now hospitalized. The captain said robbers stole about $350 and a mobile phone.