Durban - Police are investigating a case of murder after an elderly woman was allegedly raped and strangled by men who pretended to be members of the South African National Defense Force.
Provincial police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala, said the woman's body was found on Sunday inside her home in Sweetwaters, Pietermaritzburg.
"The post-mortem will determine the cause of death. The matter is still under investigation," Gwala said.
It is believed that men posing as SANDF soldiers approached the 75-year-old woman, informing her they were there to sanitise her home.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Social Development, Nonhlanhla Khoza, expressed disgust at the incident.
"We are very much concerned about criminals who take advantage of the national lockdown to rob and murder unsuspecting citizens. The deployment of the police and SANDF in our communities is one of many measures to safeguard the lives of our people from the coronavirus and we take exception when criminals use this to commit crimes against unsuspecting people," she said.
Khoza said this horrifying incident of sexual abuse and murder of an old person indicated the loss of ubuntu.
"These criminals who falsely presented themselves as members of SANDF to gain access to the old person's home must be traced and arrested immediately. We have full confidence in our law enforcement agencies that they will soon bring these thugs to book," she said.
A spokesperson from the SANDF confirmed to The Mercury their members were not deployed in the capital at the weekend.
"Our members were only deployed to Durban and KwaMashu. It is also not the mandate of the SANDF to sanitise people's homes," the spokesperson said.
Police have urged residents to not to open up their homes to anyone purporting to be officials from any department.