Attacked pensioner dies
A MTUBATUBA pensioner and victim of a violent house robbery, has died.
Ntombenkulu Nkosi (72) of the Nvutshini reserve outside Mtubatuba passed away at her grandson’s house on Sunday morning after complaining about severe pain.
Ntombenkulu was attacked by a well-known local man on the night of Tuesday, 11 January.
She was hacked on the head with a bush knife several times by the suspect who was reportedly demanding her old age pension. She lost her sight after the attack.
Her grandson, Sithembiso Nkosi (35) said Ntombenkulu was alone at home when the incident occurred.
‘The suspect kicked the door open and demanded money,' said Sithembiso.
'My grandmother had gone to collect her old age grant at a local pension payout point the same day.
'When the suspect realised there was no money at her home, he struck her several times on the head with a bush knife before taking her cellphone and leaving her alone and bleeding.
‘She spent the whole night alone, and the next morning she managed to crawl out of the house to look for help.
'She barely managed to reach the gate, and was discovered by her neighbour who had come to borrow a hand hoe.
'Her neighbour alerted us about the incident,’ he said.
Sithembiso said Ntombenkulu was rushed to the local clinic and then transferred to KwaHlabisa Hospital where she spent eight days.
‘She was discharged, and we took her to the police station to open a case.
'Last Tuesday, she became very ill and we had to rush her to the clinic again. She was transferred to hospital again.
'At the hospital, the doctors discovered that one of her ribs had been fractured during the attack. She was discharged the following day,’ Sithembiso said.
He said they had reported Ntombenkulu's death to the police.
KwaMsane Saps said they would wait for the postmortem result, to guide them on whether or not to change the attempted murder case to one of murder.
No arrest has yet been made.