DURBAN - POLICE are still searching for those involved in the murder of a KwaZulu-Natal farmer who was found strangled on Saturday.
Neil Mackay, 46, of Skietrif Farm in Winterton, was found with strangulation marks on his neck. Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said his hands were also tied.
Mackay was left paralysed from a previous farm attack shooting 20 years ago. He was found dead in his wheelchair in his bedroom.
Gwala said circumstances surrounding the incident were being investigated. A case of murder is being investigated by Winterton SAPS.
Uthukela Constituency Head and DA MP Alf Lees said the killers apparently attacked Mackay in his office in the farm shed immediately after the farm manager and staff left on Friday evening. Mackay’s mother arrived at the farm in Winterton on Saturday morning only to find her son dead in his wheelchair in his bedroom.
Lees believed that whoever did this was keeping watch and attacked the defenceless Mackay once he was on his own.
“First they cleaned out the safe. Then they apparently dragged Neil to his bedroom where they brutally strangled him to death. Neil’s dogs clearly did their best to defend him. They were savagely slashed but, judging by the blood on the scene, it seems the dogs did manage to injure those who murdered Neil,” Lees said.
“Who would murder a man in a wheelchair? A man in a wheelchair who was both unarmed and physically unable to protect himself?”
Lees described MacKay as a gentle and friendly man of peace who refused to carry a gun, despite living alone on a farm.
“People who would murder a defenceless man are a danger to all of society. They must be found and locked away without delay before they murder again.”
Lees called on the police to do their job and conduct a thorough forensic investigation to collect the DNA and other evidence needed to ensure that the murderers are charged, convicted and thrown into jail for life.
“It is impossible to comprehend the shock and sadness that Mrs MacKay must have experienced and will experience for the rest of her life. She had to live through her son being twice attacked, this second time murdered by people who don’t deserve any place in our society except in a maximum-security prison,” Lees said.
AfriForum Research recorded 63 farm murders for 2020 compared to 45 farm murders for 2019. There were 382 confirmed farm attacks during 2020. Fifteen farm murders were recorded for KZN in 2020, compared to six farm murders recorded in 2019.
Daily News