Elderly man tortured and murdered on a smallholding

A 63-year-old man was killed in his home on a small holding in Sundra in Mpumalanga on Monday night. He was apparently tortured until he later succumbed to his injuries.

Derek Bester, chairman of local neighborhood watch Sundra Rietkol Bulldogs, said they found the elderly man’s mutilated body in his room on Tuesday morning. His hands and knees were tied with electrical cords.

“It looks like the attackers punched him and kicked him. His body was mutilated. His teeth were knocked out and his ribs appeared to be broken. He had bruises all over his body, ”says Bester.

Bester said the neighborhood watch was called by the neighbor in the morning. This comes after one of the farm workers noticed a broken kitchen window on Tuesday morning and suspected an altercation. He went to the neighbor for help.

Bester said he suspected the elderly had died of internal injuries.

According to Bester, an unknown number of attackers broke the kitchen window the night before and thus entered the house. They attacked and assaulted the elderly man in the living room.

Bester says many signs indicate that there has been a fierce struggle between the elderly and the attackers.

“I suspect they then dragged the elderly man to his room and tied it with electrical cords,” says Bester. He says they broke open the safe in the elderly man’s room. “I suspect they were looking for money.”

Bester says with the neighborhood watch’s arrival on the scene, the elderly man’s cellphone and cash were still lying on the kitchen table.

Hillel Coetzer, AfriForum’s chief of security for the northern region, said the case was opened with the police.

“It is worrying to see how farm attacks and farm murders again increase significantly in the Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga areas, especially after the COVID 19 secession period. We encourage people to sharpen their readiness, ”says Coetzer.