Grandpa 89 necklaced and burnt to death

AN 86-YEAR-OLD madala was with his wife when he found himself face-to-face with death.

Villagers, mostly women, stormed his house in Rotterdam, near Hlanganani Village in Limpopo.

They accused him of raping and killing a gogo... then they took him into the street.

The body of gogo Mamaila Maluleka (79) had been found in the veld the previous day.

Jack Hlongwane was beaten with sticks and fists on Wednesday.

And when his wife Anna Chauke (58) tried to intervene, she was beaten as well.

And then the old man had a tyre put over his head and he was set alight.

A police officer driving past tried to intervene, but the people stoned his vehicle, leaving him standing as a spectator until the madala's body had been totally burnt.

The madala's grieving widow, Anna, told Daily Sun it was terrifying when the people stormed into her house.

"It hurts me that I saw my husband die and I could do nothing to help him," she said.

"My husband tried to tell them he had nothing to do with the woman's death, but they did not listen. They were full of anger," she said.

Anna said she tried to stop them from stoning her husband.

"But when I pleaded with them to stop hurting him, they threw stones at me.

"Some even beat me and accused me of shielding him," said Anna.

She said her husband knew the people who killed him.

"I never thought these people could do this," she said.

Police Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said that 16 suspects between the ages of 18 and 45 had been arrested.

Fifteen of the suspects are women.

"They are believed to be the ringleaders," Mulaudzi told Daily Sun.

The suspects are expected to appear in the Tiyani Magistrates Court today.

Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Benny Ntlemeza said: "Anyone caught on the wrong side of the law will face the music."