Robertson Shooting: New Details And A Competing Hero Narrative Emerge A Week After Van Dalen’s Death
A week after Cornelius van Dalen was shot dead by police in a standoff on a farm near Robertson, farm owner Karl Smith has provided additional detail on the WhatsApp exchange, notebook and preparations found after Van Dalen’s death, while a separate group has held a public tribute calling him a hero killed for exposing corruption. This article sets out both accounts as reported, without adopting either.
Police in Robertson allegedly knew about complaints against Cornelius van Dalen months before he was shot dead by members of the South African Police Service Special Task Force during a standoff at Top View farm near De Hoop outside Robertson. Van Dalen had rented workspace on the farm and later moved into it, using part of the space as living quarters.
The shooting began on the Sunday before his death, when Van Dalen fired more than four shots at a Volkswagen Polo belonging to neighbour Juanita Lourens as she drove it. She was not hit. Lourens reported the incident to farm owner Karl Smith, who called in Col. Norman Davids, station commander at Robertson police station. When police arrived that evening, Van Dalen allegedly opened fire on them too, and an officer was shot in the shoulder.
Police later tried to take a statement from Lourens and seize her damaged vehicle as evidence. As officers escorted her to the car, Van Dalen opened fire again, and Smith says he sent her a WhatsApp message telling her to switch off the lights in her flat and lie flat on the ground. Police withdrew from the property at around 02:30 the following morning. Smith says he was concerned for the safety of residents once officers left the scene, since Van Dalen could still have posed a danger or taken people hostage while no police presence remained.
Additional task force members were flown in, and officers used drones to map the layout of the farm while three sharpshooters took up positions in bushes around Van Dalen’s dwelling. The tactical response unit deployed on the Monday afternoon, leading to a sustained exchange of gunfire in which Van Dalen, wearing a bulletproof vest, allegedly damaged several police vehicles before he was shot dead. Paramedics arrived just before 17:00 and declared him dead at the scene.
Officers who gained access to Van Dalen’s workspace afterward seized a rifle, a shotgun, two pistols, ammunition, notebooks and old four colour flags associated with the former Transvaal Republic. Smith says Van Dalen fired more than 2 000 rounds at police during the standoff, and separately collected an additional 250 spent cartridge casings from the property after police had finished gathering their own evidence.
Among the notebooks recovered was one containing five pages of names described as prominent South Africans regarded by Van Dalen as enemies of the white race or Boerevolk, or individuals he believed needed to be dealt with. The names have not been made public, and investigators are reportedly examining whether Van Dalen was acting alone or had links to a wider network, with counterintelligence involvement planned as part of the follow up investigation. No further detail on this aspect has been released.
A judicial inquest has been opened into the death, and officials from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate attended the scene.
A Landlord Dispute Turns Hostile
Smith says Van Dalen, who worked in the motor trade, first approached him about a year before the shooting to rent workspace on the farm, and asked around eight months before his death whether he could live there. Smith agreed, but says complaints from the eleven other tenants living near the workspace began soon afterward and increased in the following months. He describes Van Dalen as intimidating toward tenants and quick to anger.
Van Dalen reportedly stopped paying rent in May. After repeated warnings went unanswered, Smith gave notice by WhatsApp on 3 June that Van Dalen had to vacate the property and that his deposit would be withheld to cover the arrears. In that message, seen by Maroela Media, Smith wrote that he had given Van Dalen a chance before but could no longer tolerate what he called his ridiculous allegations. Van Dalen replied that everyone in town knew what Smith and his gang were doing, and claimed to have evidence.
Smith later sent notice that he intended to bring a team to inspect the property, giving 24 hours warning. Van Dalen replied that he had already been the target of multiple attempts on his life and that no one would be allowed onto the premises, though he said he could pack his belongings and leave peacefully if pushed no further, warning that he would otherwise defend himself lawfully. Smith responded that the notice stood, that Van Dalen should consult a lawyer, and that he was being watched.
Van Dalen maintained he had spent significant money improving the property and had been a good tenant, and separately accused Smith of trying to poison his water, a claim Smith disputes on the basis that all tenants draw from the same water supply with no other complaints reported. Van Dalen also described the other tenants as satanists who would eventually turn on Smith. Smith says he told Van Dalen to remain on his own side of the fence.
Complaints Reported To Police Months In Advance
Some tenants lodged formal complaints against Van Dalen at Robertson police station months before the shooting. Smith says officers privately admitted to him that they were aware of the volume of complaints but were reluctant to act because they regarded Van Dalen as dangerous and unpredictable.
Five days before further complaints of threatening behaviour, police returned to the farm to confiscate his firearms. Smith says Van Dalen did not physically threaten anyone with the weapon but was seen carrying it around the property and had fired shots into the ground. He refused officers access to his workspace and confronted them over a high sheet metal wall, telling them, on video, that they could only enter once he had his bulletproof vest on, that he had nothing to hide, that cameras covered the property, and that his firearm licences remained valid. A source close to the investigation says those licences had in fact lapsed shortly before the shooting.
Character references found in Van Dalen’s workspace, signed in 2020 by a cousin and a family friend and apparently submitted with an earlier firearm licence application, described him as calm, composed, responsible and a peacemaker who did not anger quickly.
A Facebook Post Hours Before The Standoff
On the Sunday evening, with police already on the farm, Van Dalen posted on a community Facebook page claiming that corrupt Robertson police working for drug cartels were trying to kill him. He alleged that gangs he had exposed had turned to police to fabricate paperwork used to seize his firearms, that an earlier attempt to set him up for a contract killing had failed, and that police had subsequently been ordered to kill him. The post stated that time was running out, that he would not surrender, and that he would die on his feet rather than live on his knees.
A Very Different Account Emerges
A separate report published this week presents a markedly different version of events. A group affiliated with the Vryburger Beweging paraded through Robertson carrying old four colour flags in tribute to Van Dalen, erected a small cross near the entrance to Top View farm, and held a wreath laying ceremony. A man identified as Johannes, who led the group, broadcast the event live and described Van Dalen as the hero of Robertson, killed for opposing what he called an anti white system, and said Van Dalen had not fired first but was trapped inside his own home before he was killed.
Smith disputes that framing. He told Maroela Media he believed Van Dalen had prepared for a shootout, saying he had broken up floor tiles and placed them in front of the windows, installed dozens of cameras around the workspace, erected high corrugated iron fencing, and stockpiled a considerable quantity of ammunition, water filters and canned food sufficient for several months. Smith estimates the damage to the property together with Van Dalen’s outstanding rent at more than R100 000.
What Remains Unresolved
The competing accounts, one describing a man whose escalating threats and weapon stockpiling were reported to police for months without action, the other describing a victim of a corrupt system killed while defending himself, remain unreconciled. Every claim in this report is attributed to its source and should be treated as such, since much of it remains unverified and contested. What is established is that Van Dalen’s death, whatever its full explanation, has brought a measure of relief to tenants who lived beside him for months under conditions they describe as a considerable and ongoing source of stress.
