Ntshawini house painter Thulani Seme (48) was the victim of a horrific robbery this past weekend, after working on a job in Salt Rock.

While waiting for a taxi near the petrol station opposite Tiffany’s Shopping Centre, four men in a white Toyota Yaris offered him a lift, saying that they were going to Ntshawini.

“I thought they were kind people offering to help me,” said Thulani, who gratefully accepted the offer.

It was only as they were passing through Shakaskraal that he realised something was not right.

One of the men asked him what he had on his person, and then reached into his pocket when he refused to tell them.

When Thulani pushed the man away, another stabbed him in his back.

The men then proceeded to rob him of his cellphone, bank cards and R1200 that he had withdrawn from an ATM in Salt Rock.

They also removed his clothing, leaving him only his underwear and socks when they dumped him, bloody and struggling to breathe, on a dirt road near Groutville.

He was stabbed again in the thigh before they left.

His wife, Nellie, said she was phoned at their Ntshawini home at 10:30 that evening, 7 hours after he had been released by his kidnappers and a passerby had taken Thulani to General Justice Gizenga Mpanza regional hospital (formally Stanger Hospital).

“He was unconscious when they picked him up and the blood on his leg had already dried.

“I do not know how long he had been lying there.”

Nellie rushed to the hospital but was initially unable to see her husband with staff citing Covid-19 protocols.

After a while, she was allowed in to identify him and he was awake but did not recognise her.

He has since been transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital where he has regained his memory and is having further treatment.

Thulani and Nellie were described as, “just the loveliest people” by employer Louise Vogt.

“They have four kids of their own and take care of four more from Thulani’s sister,” he said.

A case of robbery with a non-firearm weapon was opened with Kwadukuza SAPS on August 24.

While the investigation is ongoing Nellie warned people to be constantly on their guard.

“Please, you must not ever trust anyone who is offering a lift. These men might hurt someone else.”