The incident occurred in March 2024 in the suburb of Emalahleni, Mpumalanga Province.
According to the Daily Star, the pastor of the parish has become the subject of a church thief massacre case. The victim is Dumisani Mahlangu, 29, who was caught on church premises and accused of stealing a battery. The alleged thief was apprehended by six parishioners whom the man described as an "armed gang".
Volunteers first shot Mhlanga under his feet and then called 58-year-old parish rector Solomon Mhlanga to the scene. The priest arrived by car together with his son. Remarkably, the pastor immediately brought a machete with him. The hierarch's verdict was simple - chop off the thief's hands.
"I begged him to leave me at least one hand. But he said my friends should see what would happen by stealing from him," stated the victim.
After the execution, the unfortunate man was simply abandoned without medical attention. In his defense, the victim claims that he did not intend to steal anything but just decided to take a shortcut through the church.
Police arrested Solomon Mhlanga and his 20-year-old son. arrested.
Earlier it became known that in Thailand two passers-by cut off with a knife the hand of a man who forbade them to smoke near his store.