A gruesome incident has sent shockwaves through the community of Kwa-Guqa in Emalahleni, as a man’s hands were brut@lly chopped off by a local pastor and his son.
The victim, 29-year-old Dumisani Mahlangu, was accused of st3aling from a church, leading to the h0rrific act of viol3nce.
Speaking to the Sowetan after he was discharged from the hospital, Dumisani Mahlangu revealed that he was innocently passing by the church in Kwa-Guqa when he was confronted by a group of armed men. They accused him of th3ft and subjected him to a viol3nt ass@ult.
“I was going to my friend’s house around 7am. I took a shortcut and I walked through the church yard. Four men approached me, accusing me of stealing. As I tried to run away, I heard several gunshots, and they told me to stop or else they would sh00t me. They ass@ulted me with sticks and fists,” Mahlangu recounted.
During the ass@ult, the pastor’s son reportedly phoned his father, Apostle Solomon Mhlanga, informing him that they had found Mahlangu. Shortly after, the pastor arrived at the scene, accompanied by his wife. Mahlangu claims that the pastor proceeded to @ssault him, tying his hands and feet with a rope. He was then forced into a vehicle and driven to a secluded area in Kromdraai.
It was there that the unimaginable act took place. Mahlangu described how the pastor, armed with a panga, ordered him to place his hand on a tree branch. Terrified and begging for mercy, Mahlangu pleaded with the pastor not to k!ll him.
“The men held me down while the pastor chopped off my hands,” Mahlangu revealed, his voice filled with pain and disbeli3f.
He expressed that he had begged the pastor to spare at least one of his hands, but his pleas went unanswered.
“I begged him to at least leave me with one hand, but he said my friends must see what happens to people that steal from him,” Mahlangu recounted.
Following the brut@l amputation, Mahlangu was abandonded in the secluded area.
Despite his grievous injuri3s, he managed to make his way to the main road, where he encountered individuals who were cutting wood nearby. However, even they hesitated to approach him due to the shocking sight of his severed hands. Eventually, security officers from a nearby mine were contacted, and Mahlangu was transported to a clinic in Kwa-Guqa.
While Mahlangu has admitted to his past involvement in theft and drug use, he vehemently denies ever stealing from the church in question. His father, Johannes Mahlangu, expressed his disbelief and anguish, questioning how a pastor could commit such a heinous act.
“How can a pastor do this to my child? Is he not supposed to preach peace? Now I have to brush his teeth, feed him, wash him, take him to the toilet. I was hoping that when I di3, he is the one who is going to carry my coffin out of this house,” the distraught father lamented.
The pastor, Apostle Solomon Mhlanga, and his son, Enoch, have been arrested and appeared in the Emalahleni magistrate’s court on charges of attempted murd3r and kidn@pping. The case has been postponed to April 9 for a bail application.
Source Zoomsouthafrica