Famed Ndebele Artist Dr Esther Mahlangu, 87, Beaten, Tied Up and Robbed of Firearm, Police on High Alert

• World-renowned Ndebele artist Dr Esther Mahlangu was attacked by an unknown man at her residence in Mpumalanga
• Police are investigating the attack during which Mahlangu was brutally assaulted and had cash and her firearm taken
• Mpumalanga top cop Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela lamented the recent violent attacks on the elderly in the province

SIYABUSWA - Mpumalanga police are probing an incident in which globally-renowned Ndebele artist Dr Esther Mahlangu was attacked and had her pistol and an undisclosed amount of cash taken by an unknown assailant on Saturday.

According to provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, the incident happened at a residence in Siyabuswa, an area near KwaMhlanga, while Mahlangu was alone, SowetanLIVE reported.

"The old woman was preparing to take a nap. She had locked all doors but soon after, saw an unknown man inside her house. He allegedly grabbed and beat her about the face before tying both her hands using a cable tie," said Manamela.

Read also

Attackers allegedly murder Delmas farmer, 76, restrain his wife in Mpumalanga, SA in Disbelief

"The suspect [allegedly] strangled her until she was unconscious. She later reported having a fuzzy memory in that she struggled to remember certain details of the incident."

Strangled until she was unconscious

However, once Mahlangu came to, she noticed that her home had been ransacked. On closer inspection, she discovered that her firearm and an undisclosed amount of cash was missing from the safe, News24 reported.

"It's shameful that elderly people are the target of senseless and merciless criminals. On Sunday, a pensioner was strangled to death in Delmas. Such acts should not continue unabated," added Manamela.

Among a host of local and international honours, Mahlangu was bestowed with the Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters (Officier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres) in 2019 by the then-outgoing Ambassador of France to South Africa, Christophe Farnaud.

Read also

Parents demand justice for their son allegedly killed by teacher and security guard

Attackers strangle elderly farmer to death in Delmas

Elsewhere in Mpumalanga, Briefly News recently reported that an elderly farmer was brutally murdered after reluctantly opening his farmhouse to a group of men on Sunday, rocking the community of Welgelvoden.

Gustav Rappard, 76, had agreed to sell animal feed to the unknown assailants, who attacked and strangled him to death, according to a TimesLIVE report. After the killing, the armed suspects made their way into the house and restrained his wife.

They ransacked the residence, where they found nothing except the couple's cell phones. Mpumalanga police have embarked on a search for at least six suspects, The Citizen reported.

Source: Briefly News