A 78-year-old woman was tortured and beaten to death with a hot iron in her home in Dullstroom, Mpumalanga, according to a newspaper report on Friday.
Johanna Moore was found lying in a pool of blood on Thursday morning. She had serious burns on her face and arms, Beeld reported. She was thought to have been attacked on Wednesday night.
A South African of Norwegian descent, Moore had lived in Dullstroom for 22 years and ran a flower nursery there.
He body was found by her gardener Andre Mlwazu, who had worked for her for 21 years.
Sergeant Johannes Maseko said the motive for the murder appeared to be robbery, as Moore's house had been ransacked and her purse was missing.
Local police have asked anyone with information about the case to come forward.
Shocked Dullstroom resident Anita Minnaar, a close friend of Moore's, described her as “the sweetest person imaginable, someone who was incapable of harming anyone else”. - Sapa