Not long ago, a granny was maimed and seriously injured, but was lucky to have survived the attack. She is fighting for her life in hospital. Only last week another gogo was killed and this week another granny lost her life. This has left the community of Lwamondo outside Thohoyandou in deep confusion and shock, not knowing who is responsible for the attacks. Residents now believe a serial killer targeting the aged is on the loose and they are wondering who will be next to be attacked and killed.

The latest victim is Masindi Mukwevho (73) of Lwamondo-Khumbe who, together with her aunt, was attacked while busy working at the nearby orchards.

Sarah Nengovhela (38), who was with the deceased, said they left home like normal at six in the morning to work in the fields. “We had not started working yet when a man passed and greeted us. We did not suspect anything as people always pass there. After working for some time, we decided to rest in the shade of a tree,” she said. Nen-govhela said the granny was sleeping when the same man appeared again and headed straight for them. “I shouted at him as I felt that he had bad in-tentions. He did not say anything. Instead, he wrestled with me, trying to pin me down, whereupon granny Mukwevho woke up and assisted me,” she said. She said the assailant must have seen that he was losing the fight, because he produced a knife and stabbed her in the head. He also stabbed the granny three times in the back. “I left her lying on the ground after realising that she was seriously injured and sought help from the nearby community,” she said. Nengovhela said she was very disappointed when the people who gathered never bothered to help her, but just stood there and watched. “My aunt would still have been alive if she had received care and attention in time,” she said.

She said she phoned the police, who arrived together with the emer-gency people, but it was too little too late as her granny was pronounced dead on the scene.

Nengovhela, who is deeply traumatised, said she was very confused, as she did not know the reason for the attack as the man did not say what he wanted. “If he had wanted something, he would have told us and maybe we would have given it to him without even fighting. Instead, he just decided to kill our beloved granny,” said Nen-govhela.

The granny’s eldest son, Richard Singo, who works in Gauteng, said he was shocked to hear about the death. “I had just phoned telling her that I would be coming to see them at the end of the month and she was in good spirits,” he said. Singo said what worried him most was the fact that one moment his mother was full of life and the next she was dead. “It is very hard to accept what had happened. If she was sick or it was an accident, we would accept it, but the tragic way she died will stay in our minds forever. What wrong has she done to deserve this? If she owed him something, he should have just told us and we could have paid, but no-one has a right to kill anyone else in such a barbaric way,” he said.

Singo appealed for the police to intensify their hunt for the thug, so that he could receive a punishment that befits his crimes. “He does not deserve to be with people. He is a dangerous, wild animal that needs to be locked away for the rest of his life,” he said.

Local community leader Mr Simon Mathavhane said the community was sick of crime in the area. “This is not the first crime of its kind in the area. As we speak now, a granny is fighting for her life in hospital, while another was killed and buried last weekend. We are sick and tired of this madness and we are calling on the police to act accordingly and to arrest the serial killer.” Mathavhane called upon the community to be united and to work to-gether in fighting crime.