Dumisani Mahlangu (29), from Vosman near eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, had his hands chopped off with a panga last Wednesday by people who accused him of attempting to steal a car battery.
A group of men from a local church pounced on him and accused him of having stolen a battery from a car wreck on their property. They shot around his feet, tied his hands and feet, and took Mahlangu to the Soteria Ministries International church. They assaulted him for an hour and then drove to a wooded area.
A pastor told him they were going to chop off his hands. He took out a panga, made Mahlangu put his right hand against a stump, and started chopping. Despite Mahlangu begging the pastor to leave the other hand, he still chopped it off. Then they left Mahlangu and drove away.
‘I can feel my hands are there, but when I look there’s nothing. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know what I’m going to do. For the rest of my life, it’s now like this.
‘I can’t wash or dress myself. Even though I didn’t work, I could learn to do something with my hands that could bring an income. Now I’m dependent on others where I wasn’t before. I can’t understand why they did this.’
Apostle Solomon Mhlanga, of the Soteria Ministries International Church, appeared in the magistrate’s court in eMalahleni on Tuesday with his son Enoch on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder.
Dumisani’s distraught father said they could have brought his son to him to deal with. They could also have taken him to the police. ‘His mother is mentally disabled and I am old. What will become of him when I’m gone?’