Old couple set alight for 'poisoning' grandson

Grandparents of an 18-year-old boy who was found dead in the bushes near White River in Mpumalanga are recovering in hospital after they were set alight by angry community members who blamed them for his death.

According to community members in the Chochocho village near White River,  the elderly couple, who are aged 76 and 80, allegedly confessed that they had poisoned their grandson because he had been irritating the family and the community.

A community member who spoke to SowetanLIVE on condition of anonymity said: “The grandparents confessed to us that they poisoned [the teen] because he was distracting them and causing trouble in the community.”

He said this led to residents' anger boiling out of control. “The community started beating and setting them alight but police arrived [shortly thereafter],” he said

Mpumalanga police confirmed that they were investigating two attempted murder 

charges and a murder charge following the two incidents.

“What we got is that on Thursday last week the 18-year-old boy disappeared and was found dead the next day at a nearby bush,” spokesman of the Mpumalanga police Mtsholi Bhembe said.

Bhembe said although no arrest had been made, police established that several community members beat up the elderly couple before  pouring petrol over them and set them alight before police rescued them.

He said the couple was taken to a hospital but refused to divulge the name for their safety.

Bhembe said the elderly couple was yet to be charged with murder charges as police were still investigating the allegations.

“What we can say is that we haven’t charged the grandparents with murder because what is said by the community needs to be tested through investigations,” he said.

No arrests have been made.