Canaan Mdletshe

KwaZulu-Natal police suspect that four dogs mauled a South Coast pensioner to death and ate him on Friday night.

The police said a postmortem examination of the remains of Bhekinduna Dlamini, 69, will determine the exact cause of his death at Hlokozi.

The dogs were killed by the SPCA and will be examined to see if they contain human remains.

The tragedy has shocked the rural community of Highflats, where Dlamini lived. He had gone to collect his pension earlier in the day but did not return home.

The next morning his remains were discovered.

Sofi Dlamini, Bhekinduna's sister-in-law, said the family was not worried when the pensioner failed to return home because "he normally drinks and then doesn't come home".

A police spokesman, Captain Vincent Pandarum, said the police wanted to make sure that the dogs were the killers before proceeding with their investigations.

The dogs were covered with blood when found.