She was out feeding the birds on Sunday morning when two men approached her looking for work, but little did 75 year old Maureen McRae know that these men would eventually kill her gardener and tie her up before taking all her valuables.
The tragic events started to unfold from 08:20 on January 29 on a small holding just outside Dunnottar.
Alfred Mhlangu, believed to be in his late 40s, was minding his own business when he was shot through the door of the cottage in McRae’s backyard where he stayed.
He was a loyal worker for many years and it was evident from the broken brooms that lay on the ground where he died that he tried everything in his power to fight off the robbers.
A traumatised McRae explained that at first only two men approached her, but soon two other men were also at her gate.
They overpowered her, forced her to the ground, kicked her in the stomach and demanded that she hands over all her cash.
They then proceeded to tie her up and slapped her through the face when she said that there wasn’t any cash on the property.
Fearing for the safety of Mhlangu, she insisted that she was alone on the plot and that her worker was away for the weekend.
“I told them that someone lived there, but I wasn’t sure whether he was back,” McRae explained.
“But I knew that he was in his room and I just wanted to stop them from going there.”
Police later confirmed that three shots were fired, although McRae only recalls hearing two.
“First I heard Alfred shouting no, no!, and then I heard the shots.”
Mhlangu’s body was found outside his cottage. His hands were tied with barbwire and McRae recalls that when she eventually discovered his body, there was a stray puppy at his side.
After the armed men ransacked her house, they took McRae’s car, her bank card (at gunpoint she had to supply them with the pin) and chained her to an implement in her garage.
When she heard they had left, she smashed the lock that was around her ankle and ran back inside the house where she found her cell phone.
“Fortunately I didn’t have it on me when they approached me, and I’m just as lucky that they didn’t find it in the house.”
McRae then phoned the local police who were quick to respond.
The community have also opened their hearts to McRae as she many of her neighbours have brought over shopping bags of food for her and all the pets she looks after.
Dunnottar SAPS spokesperson Tommy Tomlinson confirmed that no suspects have been arrested as yet and that the matter would be investigated.
In the meantime a security guard has been stationed at the McRae house as she fears the men may return.
