A gang of armed robbers have murdered a prominent Cape Town food producer and shot and wounded his daughter.
|||Cape Town - A gang of armed robbers have murdered a prominent Cape food producer and shot and wounded his daughter.
Police spokesman Andre Traut said five armed men entered the business in Station Road, Montague Gardens, at 4.30pm on Tuesday and ordered the victim and his daughter, who is in her 30s, to open the safe.
The other employees were held at gunpoint.
At some point, shots were fired and the victim was fatally wounded, said Traut.
“His daughter sustained a gunshot wound to her leg and was admitted to hospital. The suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and are yet to be arrested,” Traut said.
The Cape Argus on Wednesday verified that the businessman was Robert Bader, owner of Cape Cheese Products, a South African originally from Switzerland.
Bader established the business in 1988, bringing from Switzerland expertise in the manufacturing of various types of processed cheese.
Bader has been described as widely respected, and his death as “a huge tragedy”.
Bader’s daughter has not been named by police. She is in hospital.
A witness at the factory said the premises were cordoned off by police while detectives inspected the murder scene.
Industry expert Kobus Mulder told the Cape Argus: “He’s a very well-known Swiss cheese-maker. I, personally, as a cheese consultant, whatever I know about processed cheese making I know from him.
“He started his business and grew it tremendously – I’m too shocked to say anything sensible right now. He was hugely respected and he did business with most of the cheese factories in the Cape. It’s a huge tragedy,” he said from northern Mozambique.
“(With Bader’s death) a large volume of knowledge about processed cheese making in this country is now gone too – that’s the end. It’s as simple and as tragic as that.”
Another source in the food industry, who asked not to be named, described Bader as “an icon in the industry”.
“He just minded his own business, but was a good strategic person and established his company against all the big businesses out there,” the source said.
“He did so much good for the industry. I’m so shocked that his life could have killed the future of the industry, for what seems like just a little money.”
When establishing his business, Bader imported machinery and started with the production of processed cheese blocks and cheese sausages.
The business soon grew and moved to larger premises.
Cape Argus