Wheelchair-bound KZN farmer found strangled

File picture: SAPS (Twitter)

File picture: SAPS (Twitter)

Published Apr 11, 2021

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Durban - KwaZulu-Natal police are investigating a case of murder after the body of a wheelchair-bound farmer was found with strangulation marks on his neck on Saturday.

Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said on Sunday: “A case of murder is being investigated by Winterton SAPS. It is alleged that yesterday at 10:15, the body of a 46-year-old man was found with strangulation marks on the neck at a farm in Winterton.

“His hands were also tied and he was found in his wheelchair. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” Gwala said.

In a statement on Sunday, DA MP Alf Lees identified the victim as Neil McKay.

Lees asked: “Who would murder a man in a wheelchair? A man in a wheelchair who was both unarmed and physically unable to protect himself.

“We are also appalled by the news that the reason he was crippled was because of in an initial farm attack some 20 years ago. In that attack he was shot and disabled. It seems that despite the passing of 20 years, the attackers who crippled Neil McKay have never been convicted.

“Surely this second attack and horrendous murder will move Minister of Police, Bheki Cele to finally give as much attention to solving the thousands of unsolved murder cases as he does to arresting people minding their own business on the beach?

Lees added: “Neil McKay was a gentle and friendly man of peace who apparently refused to carry or even have a gun, despite living alone on a farm where his now deceased father made it possible for his beloved son to farm from a wheelchair.

“The murderer/s apparently attacked Neil in his office in the farm shed immediately after the farm manager and staff left for their homes on Friday evening. It seems they were keeping watch and attacked the defenceless Neil McKay 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 and were savagely slashed but, judging by the blood on the scene, it seems the dogs did manage to injure those who murdered Neil McKay.

“It is up to the South African 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,” Lees said.

“The DA expresses its most sincere condolences to Neil’s mother who arrived at his farm in Winterton on Saturday morning only to find her murdered son dead in his bedroom. It is impossible to comprehend the shock and sadness that Mrs McKay must have experienced and will experience for the rest of her life.”

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