MALAMULELE – The search for people who stoned to death an 81-year-old man was still continuing at the time of going to press.

The incident took place at Phaphazela Village near Malamulele on Monday night. According to the spokesperson of the police in the Lowveld area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, the deceased was on duty when the incident took place.

The deceased was employed as a security guard at Malonga Trading Store. The statement indicates that during the night of the incident the deceased was confronted by a group of people. According to the statement the group started throwing stones at the old man.

The deceased tried to hide behind the shop but the mob proceeded to him and continued to stone him until he died at the scene. The statement further indicates that the group dragged the deceased's body around the shop after killing him.

Ngoepe stated that the deceased's body was dragged to the nearby bushes. That is where the culprits had allegedly tried to cut off his genitals. The police could not confirm whether the deceased was killed for ritual purposes or not as the results of the post mortem were still to be released at the time of going to press.

The deceased was identified as Mr Khazamula William Mashaeni. The police have appealed to anyone who has information regarding the brutal killing of the old man to contact them at the nearest police station. The police further indicated that all information would be treated as confidential.